The Restaurant With Sushi That's Out of This World
by Luki Dimension
Summary: Present Mic first spots the restaurant when it's his turn to patrol the local neighbourhood around UA.
1. Present Mic

Anyone who follows my Tumblr will no doubt be dancing for joy...

This idea WILL NOT LEAVE MY HEAD! Too many people getting into BNHA and dragging me along for the ride! I watched the first season when it first came out and then keep diving into fic's so naturally, I decide to tell this fic with the BNHA characters in focus rather than the KHR ones! (brain starts imploding on the lack of logic).

Please don't expect regular updates. It's been getting the odd update via Tumblr while I pick at it, but don't intend on turning it into a proper multi-fic.

* * *

Present Mic first spots the restaurant when it's his turn to patrol the local neighbourhood around UA. With so many heroes on staff and the constant threat of attacks, it's safer to have everyone on a random schedule to deter any would-be villains from causing trouble, or allowing anyone to learn the rota. It's a security measure that results in the surrounding area having some of the lowest crime statistics in Musutafu, but also means real estate is at a premium. Businesses will fight to the metaphysical death to get their store in these streets.

So while it's not unusual to see a new store open, the lack of familiarity with the name does draw the hero's attention. Self-owned businesses are rare – the sheer amount of capital deters most of them from starting here, choosing lesser known neighbourhoods to build up a client base before making the leap. Since he's never heard the name 'Takesushi,' or even heard down the grapevine of the venture, it must be completely new.

That's enough to pique his interest, and when the school day is over, he decides sushi would be a good dinner option.

* * *

It's clearly only been open a few days judging from the number of people carrying grand opening vouchers. Eventually, once the novelty dies down the restaurant will be judged for it's food, but Hizashi highly doubts the owner would dare risk opening here if he didn't think he could compete. At the door he's greeted by a pretty girl with honey-blonde hair, who asks if he's looking for a table or take-out. She doesn't bat an eye at his appearance, and happily directs him over to the take-out. Line to the side.

Thankfully, the queue isn't as long as it could be – it might not be all that 'heroic' of him, but people do have a tendency to let heroes cut in line, and Present Mic is more than popular enough to find himself at the front of the line in a matter of minutes.

There's a young teenage girl minding the till, a frail looking thing, with dark purple hair and an eyepatch decorated with a skull motif. Her mouth drops just a tad as her eye glances up, taking in Mic's leather and hair, and he waits for the inevitable spluttering that comes from coming face to face with a hero.

However-

"Um, good evening" She offers, face smoothing into a smile. "Welcome to Takesushi, may I take your order?"

He almost double takes, but grins in delight. For such a young girl, she's quite the professional.

Unsure of what would be best, he orders one of the specials advertised, and steps to the side after paying. The order heads to the back, where he can only see one man working with a knife, although there's a pair of teens – a brunet and a black haired boy who's clearly related to the chef - working on packing up boxes or putting together platters. Anything not immediately heading out to the bar is being carried out by a rather punked out silver haired teen and an older boy with white hair.

It's a lot of teenagers – the chef is the only member of staff clearly over 18, but they work together seamlessly.

"That was very impressive of you" he hears, and his attention is drawn back to the girl at the desk, now greeting the next customer in line. "My daughter works at a 7/11, and every time a hero walks in she turns into an excited mess. She'd never have gotten two words out in front of Present Mic."

Some of the others in the line chuckle, and Hizashi's lip twitches into a grin, trying to pretend he can't hear the conversation.

However, instead of insisting she was just doing her job – or even admitting that she's not a Present Mic fan, the girl just blinks and says.

"Who's Present Mic?"

There's a hideous screech that lasts all of two seconds before Present Mic realises it's coming from him and shuts up, while the entire line goes silent. Even the busser's pause, and the chef looks up from the fish.

The woman looks embarrassed, and the girl is starting to shrink into herself, so clearly it's up to Mic to defuse the situation. As iconic as he is, Present Mic's dropped in the rankings since taking on the role at UA, and he's hardly as prevalent as the big hitters, so this is hardly the first time he's gone unrecognised. Admittedly it doesn't normally happen this close to UA, where he's seen on a near daily basis, but it **does** happen.

"Hah hah, that would be me young lady" he says, walking back up to the counter. "Guess I need to be doing more rounds, not often I meet someone who doesn't know me."

He snaps a pair of finger guns in her direction and grins.

"Present Mic, the Voice Hero and star of 'Put Your Hands Up' on Hero FM" he announces.

The girl hunches down, face starting to redden.

"I don't listen to radio."

Mic laughs. "Don't worry about it. I'm a bit much for some people, nothing wrong that. Which heroes do you like?"

It's an easy enough question, and one that even the most embarrassed person can usually answer after a hero faux paus. If all else fails you can just blurt out 'All Might' and move on.

Yet, what should have been an easy out for the girl seems to cause more problems. Her face pales and her eye flickers to the side. She looks like the kids in Mic's class when he springs a test on them without warning.

"I...um, Mukuro isn't... Bossu...?"

He's guessing those are supposed to be names, but they mean nothing to Mic, and he's starting to feel as awkward as the girl does.

"Chrome, are you okay?"

They both look up to see the chef heading towards them, eyes narrowed. Behind him, both teens are watching, the brunet looking as nervous as the girl.

Mic holds up his hands in a placating gesture.

"Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to make you uncomfortable" he says, and genuinely means it. "I'm just surprised there's anyone in Musutafu that hasn't at least heard of me."

"We're new around here" Tsuyoshi offers, and all but thrusts a bag into Present Mic's hands. "Enjoy your meal."

It's a strange feeling, for a hero to feel so unwanted, but not a single one of the teens looks friendly – the silver haired one is outwardly glowering – so Present Mic grabs the bag, waves to the line, and heads out the door.

As if she hadn't spotted the last five minutes of awkwardness with her co-workers, the girl at the front door bows and says with an impressive amount of cheer -

"Please come again!"

Yeah...Mic doesn't think so.

* * *

Normally, Mic would let it go. Maybe the girl genuinely didn't like heroes, or had a bad experience – it happens. Maybe she had a quirk that had resulted in bullying and chosen to reject anything about heroes to protect herself. It didn't really matter - if a civilian has issues with heroes, so long as they're not breaking the law, they have a right to be left alone. Normally, he'd just take note of Takesushi's apparent ignorance and dislike and make a point not to eat there again.

However...the sushi was _really_ good. As in, melts-on-the-tip-of-your-tongue good. So good he was having cravings less than 3 days later. The chef was either exceptionally trained, or someone on his staff at a flavour enhancing quirk that they were using illegally. Either way, he wasn't quite ready to give it up.

Thankfully, the nature of heroes meant he didn't have to, and the next time he enters, it's as the casually dressed English teacher, Yamada Hizashi. It's early in the afternoon, but there's still a handful of customers despite the early hour – every time he passes in the evening the place is booming, the food good enough to maintain the customers even after the newness wears off.

There's no young greeter this time, just the chef, who nods and greets him as Hizashi sits at the bar.

"Welcome to Takesushi" the chef greets. "I'm Yamamoto Tsuyoshi. What can I interest you with first?"

Hizashi grins, tapping at a menu at some of the morsels he's been pining for all week.

"Let's start with eel and tuna, then...ah, surprise me. What do you recommend?"

Yamamoto grins back, and starts preparing the order. His hands move with impressive grace, and Hizashi, always an admirer of professionals at work, can't help but be drawn in – and eagerly grabs chopsticks once his order starts arriving.

"So what brings you to Musutafu?" he asks between plates – and oh, the sushi's just as good in the restaurant. "Moving out of the big city? Moving closer to the big city?"

The man smiles back. "I guess it was...intuition? We needed a fresh start, and something about this town drew us in. When this building became available, everything seemed like a perfect fit, and here we are."

He breaks off for a moment, taking the plates he'd just finished preparing to a handful of other customers at a nearby table, and Hizashi focuses on his meal.

"That is not physically possible!"

The sushi drops from his chopsticks as Hizashi snaps his head back at the outraged tone.

Turns out the teenagers aren't as absent as he thought – they're all crammed into a booth in the corner, along with a much younger boy with sandy blond hair. They're all staring at a tablet on the table, and the silver haired punk boy is half standing, looking frustrated at what he sees. Most of the table seems amused by his outburst, but the girl Mic had unwittingly embarrassed is frowning at him.

"...Um, are any of us physically possible?"

The boy waves frantically at the screen. "He has wings! An additional set of limbs! Growing from his _shoulders_! That _detach_ and _reattach feather by feather!_ Do you understand the anatomical impossibility of that!"

"So did Byakuran," says the black haired boy, and the punk's throws his hands into the air.

"Byakuran's were a manifestation of metaphysical energy! They weren't real, physical limbs!"

The fluffy brunet ducks his head down.

"They felt real..."

This immediately results in the silver haired boy dropping to his seat and trying to desperately console the boy next to him, only to start ranting again at the next clip – yelling about the heat limitations of the human body before spontaneous combustion becomes a possibility. Hizashi can't help the chuckle before he turns back to his meal, only to see Yamamoto watching him indulgently.

"Sometimes I think I should sell tickets" he says. "They're incapable of not attracting attention."

"Are they watching hero clips?" he asks, because that seems a large change up from the last time he walked in here.

Yamamoto shrugs. "They got a little blind-sided last week, heroes aren't that prevalent where we're from, so they're trying to catch up on the local talent.

"Hiee!"

"Oh come on! How did he not break every bone in his arm!"

"That's so extreme!"

"Wow, he was like a grown up Sasagawa."

"Turf top uses...you know! This guy doesn't. It doesn't make any sense!"

The man's lip quirks. "With varying degrees of success. Flashy...quirks aren't something they're used to seeing in broad daylight."

Hizashi however, frowns before glancing back at the table, and then back at Yamamoto. His eyes search behind the man, and starts looking at the photos on the shelf. Yamamoto and his son feature prominently, but he's starting to realise all the kids are featuring quite consistently. A tad too much to just be friends or employees considering how new the restaurant is.

"Wait...are they _all_ yours?" he asks, because there's no resemblance whatsoever – the youngest doesn't even look Asian. Sure, with quirks that's not as odd as it used to be, but the ages-

Yamamoto follows his eyes to the photo's and huffs.

"Foster kids" he admits. "Takeshi's mine, but the rest...more or less adopted us."

He picks up one closer to the side, clearly the newest of the lot as the restaurant is in the back. It's Yamamoto with all off the teens grinning as the youngest boy holds up a hand written sign saying 'Now Open.'

The man shakes his head.

"Tsuna was in a bad place" he says, finger tapping at the small, brown haired teen in the centre. "Not through any fault of his own but...he couldn't stay there, not without destroying who he was. So when a friend of his found a way to save him, free from everything that was slowly killing him, he took it. But most of his friends weren't much better off. When they realised, they refused to let him go alone. They'd been through too much to let him leave them behind."

Tsuyoshi's smile dims, eyes glancing away. "It was tearing Takeshi apart. As far as he was concerned, Tsuna and the others were family, but so was I. There was no choice he could make that wasn't going to make him miserable. So I made sure he didn't have to."

The photo gets put back, and he hands over another plate.

"I packed up my shop, filled in a thousand ridiculous custody forms and here we are. New life, new world, new beginning. For all of us."

"You seriously took in what, six kids just to keep your kid happy?" Hizashi squawks, jaw hanging a tad lower than he would like to admit.

"Well, they needed some kind of adult figure in their lives" Tsuyoshi chuckled. "And Takeshi needed them. You don't know what he was like before Tsuna – I wasn't letting him go back to that, and I wasn't going to let him run away from me. Besides, in a town like this, they're practically angels, haven't had a single problem with them."

He pauses, and then huffs quietly to himself.

"Well, no problem that could _conclusively_ be linked to them anyway."

Hizashi just shakes his head in wonder. "You're quite the hero" he offers, though he's a little surprised Yamamoto dumped all of this one him – perhaps with so many teens running around, the man hasn't had much adult company. He's probably been desperate to talk, and Hizashi's interested enough to let him continue. There's more to the story – exactly when and how his son became involved with what appears to be half an orphanage, or some kind of multiple abuse case is probably just as gripping, but Yamamoto seems to bring himself back to reality, shaking his head and offering up a final plate.

"Sorry, don't often get to talk these days. What about you? You work in the area?"

Hizashi smiles.

"I'm...an English teacher at one of the local high schools" he offers. "Long hours but I enjoy it."

"Wouldn't be Seirin would it?" Yamamoto asks, mentioning one of the nearer non-hero schools in the area, known more for their sports programs than it's academic prowess.

"Afraid not" Hizashi offers. "Is that where they're enrolled?"

He partially gestures with his chopsticks to the group in the corner, and Yamamoto nods.

"Takeshi really wants to play baseball professionally, so he looked for somewhere with a good team, and the enrolment was within everyone's ability so they stuck together, even if it's not the greatest fit for some of them. Keep getting calls asking why on earth I haven't encouraged Hayato to go to a better school, or even just test out for university – god knows the brat could get in without trying if he wanted. But you'll only pry him from Tsuna's side when he's dead."

Behind his glasses, Hizashi raises his eyebrows. "That sounds a little..."

"Hyper dependent?" Yamamoto offers. "Probably. But he's much better than he used to be, and that's saying something. To be honest, they're all a little like that. Tsuna draws people in, even when he doesn't mean to. You'd think so many personalities would rip a group like that apart but, Tsuna's particularly...gifted, at keeping harmony."

Hizashi chances another look at the group – and now that it's been brought up, he can see the connections. The silver haired boy and Yamamoto's son are flanking the brunet, both leaning into the boy slightly more than most Japanese would consider appropriate, and while the group is mostly watching the screen, whenever someone speaks up, they look at Tsuna first, as if waiting for approval to continue. The fluffy teen is controlling the entire conversation, although from the way the teen is acting, he's either very aware of this, or completely oblivious.

"He's oblivious" Yamamoto replies, and Hizashi chokes when he realises he said the last part out loud. "Tsuna spent most of his life being told he was no good at anything. It's a difficult mind set to get out of, once you start believing it."

Hizashi nods in understanding. He's heard Aizawa rant enough times about the Entrance Exam to know the world isn't kind to those that don't fit into a certain category.

"So many students come through our doors with problems that go unnoticed until high school" Hizashi replies. "Sometimes I wonder if we'll get through to them before they graduate."

Quirks, financial status, intelligence, ethnicity. Society breeds a need to excel, and unfortunately, that means someone needs to fail along the lines. At least this 'Tsuna' is finally getting the help he needs, between Yamamoto's new custody and his hoard of very close friends, Hizashi is sure the teen can learn to excel, rather than becoming a victim, or worse, a villain.

Part of him is itching to pry more, but even Yamamoto is starting to realise how much he's dumped on a complete stranger, because he's shaking his head and stepping back, choosing to clear up some of his bench.

"Clearly I'm spending too much time around teenagers" the chef jokes. "I've taking up gossiping. _"_

Hizashi laughs softly. "I promise, I'm not complaining. Not the first time I've been used as a sounding board, and won't be the last. Your story is safe with me."

Yamamoto's lips twitch.

"It's not exactly something secret, it's not all that impressive when you strip it down" he says, brushing it off. "But thanks for listening anyway."

"For sushi like this" Hizashi says, gesturing at his plate. "I'll happily take some conversation with the deal."

Yamamoto grins, and hands him the bill.

"Then I look forward to seeing you again."


	2. Eraserhead

When it comes to food, Aizawa will happily subsist on protein packets and energy drinks. However, his friends and co-workers don't seem to understand the perfectly logical reasoning for this, and he often finds himself on the receiving end of leftovers.

As such, the first time he becomes aware of Hizashi's newest food obsession is when a bag is dumped on his desk, followed by a very excited "Shouta you have to try this you'll never eat anything else ever again!" from his oldest friend.

He'd be more excited if Hizashi didn't utter something similar every other time he tried a new restaurant, but at least the sushi is recognisable. Hizashi's love of 'fusion dining' had been a dark time in the UA staff room. Cementoss still can't look at clam chowder without running to the toilet.

Long years of experience have taught him that Hizashi wont let him rest until he's at least sampled some of it – and with a long set upon sigh that's only partially for effect, he snaps the chopsticks in half and pops the closet piece into his mouth.

Flavour immediately bursts onto his tongue, and he pauses in surprise.

It's very good. Almost too-good-for-his-paycheck good.

From his side, Hizashi starts to cackle.

"I know right? I don't know what Yamamoto's secret is but I'm not eating sushi anywhere else."

Aizawa risks another piece, lips stumbling into a smile at the taste, and finally turns to Hizashi.

"Where did you get...this?"

He trails off when he realises the only reason Hizashi isn't eating with him is because he's frantically changing. The lower half of his uniform is still on, but he's pulling off a suit jacket and some very large t-shirt he's pretty sure All Might left in the staff room last week. His hair is mangled, he's clearly tried to put Present Mic's gelled up spectacle into a ponytail in an attempt make it fall flat the way it does naturally – or at least more naturally than the several tons of gel automatically makes it - and for the life of him, Aizawa cannot figure out why. That 'do' stays in place until Hizashi has a free hour, access to hot running water and a change of clothes. Present Mic wouldn't be caught dead with hair that wasn't 'up and about like the hands of his listeners Shouta!'

Hizashi doesn't even seemed fazed by Shouta's confusion, and continues to grin as he pulls off the shirt and starts rooting around his desk, pulling out Present Mic's jacket and speaker.

"It's from Takesushi, that restaurant that took over from the hot pot joint that closed last month? Went in out of curiosity, but the sushi keeps bringing me back."

Back in uniform, he grabs his own pair of chopsticks and jumps into his own chair, schooching it closer to Shouta and shoving a piece into his mouth. "Finally decided I couldn't keep it from my best friend, especially when it's well within walking distance."

"Although apparently unfriendly to heroes?" Aizawa asks, hand gesturing to the mess that is currently Hizashi's hair. The man grimaces, hand rising to check out the damage before aborting the action in exchange for more sushi.

"Well, that's a long story" Hizashi admits. "Present Mic 'may' have ruffled some feathers first time he went in, so I try to not to go in as a hero. Plus I'm kind of on speaking terms with the owner, so I'd rather he not put two and two together."

Aizawa raises an eyebrow.

"Speaking terms? How much sushi have you eaten this month?"

Tellingly, Hizashi's eyes flicker down to his belly before he offers a sheepish grin. Aizawa rolls his eyes, but eats another piece. He's not entirely sure he can blame him all things considered.

"You know what, when I can finally drag you out for a proper meal, I'll introduce you. The two of you will hit it off in a heartbeat. You've so much in common, Yamamoto's devoted to his work, fosters a bunch of troubled kids, and considers me his best friend in town.

"How long has he been in town?" Is Aizawa's automatic reply, and Hizashi mock pouts.

"Shouta!"

Aizawa ignores him, choosing to go over the earlier statements.

"I don't foster kids."

That immediately has Hizashi grinning.

"True, but you're such a mother hen to your students you might as well adopt them. I've got money riding on one of them accidentally calling you 'Dadzawa-Sensei' by the end of the year."

Aizawa scoffs. That little bet has been going since he started teaching, and Hizashi hasn't won yet. The man chooses to ignore the dismissal, and pats Aizawa on the back before grabbing the last piece of sushi in the box.

"Trust me Shouta, when I get you in there, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it."

* * *

Normally, Hizashi spends a month inhaling his latest craving before getting bored and looking for the next new thing. But when the deadline comes and goes, Takesushi take out boxes are still littering the staff room. Granted, they're not all from the Voice Hero – he's infected half the teachers at this point, and Aizawa has even started seeing the boxes pop up in students hands at lunch time. Takesushi is clearly here to stay, which means Hizashi might actually make good on making Aizawa socialise.

He's walking towards the school, mentally forming an excuse should his friend try to coax him out tonight, when his eyes are drawn to a crowd near the side of the street, and the smell of explosives hits his nose.

A few moments later, he's pushed through to the front of the crowd, to find part of a wall still smoking, and three men he vaguely remembers as low level problems on former patrols thoroughly beaten up and in cuffs, being pulled towards an ambulance by officers. It doesn't take long to fill in the story – the crowd is buzzing with information.

"-fourth fight this week isn't it?"

"-really knew what they were doing. Those men couldn't even touch him."

"-ink its one of the UA students?"

"-ain squabble?"

"Not in this neighbourhood. But what if-"

"ust be some kind of vendetta. Did they find whoever they attacked?"

"Vanished when they heard the sirens. Oh! Could we have a vigilante?"

Aizawa lets the voices wash over him as he takes in the damage, before moving away from the scene.

* * *

It's not his jurisdiction. It's not even his day to patrol, but whenever he finds himself with spare time that morning, he finds himself digging through the hero reports for vandalism for the local area.

What he finds confirms what he's heard. This is the fourth fight in the area around UA that has ended with explosions. The first two were against teens from other schools. The boys from the first fight all had records, while the second had apparently been trying to attack or intimidate another student ('looked as timid as a mouse and squealed like a puppy' according to the witness reports). The third was when police started taking notice – the opponent was a grown man with several accounts of indecency towards woman who had been cornering a young woman who supposedly had run off with her mysterious defender.

All in all, there's not much of a pattern. It certainly doesn't appear to be the work of a villain, or even a vigilante – teenagers and perverts suggests something more random. The work of someone with a short temper, plenty of pride, and considerable protectiveness or chivalry.

By lunchtime, he's wondering if he's curious enough to request the original police reports for the incidents when he hears Bakugo screaming from the corridor.

"IT WASN'T FUCKING ME!"

His head drops to hit the table, but Aizawa still finds the energy to get to his feet and walk to the door. When he takes in the scene, his senses immediately go to high alert.

There's a police officer in the corridor, trying to calm his volatile student down and failing miserably. The second Bakugo realises he has an audience, his face snaps round to face Aizawa and points at the officer accusingly.

"There's some goddamn shitty copycat running around and these morons are here bothering me rather than doing their fucking jobs!" Bakugo snarls, hands smoking.

Ah.

Part of Aizawa just wants to sigh and crawl back into the classroom. Due to the nature of hero training, the police officers districts local to UA all get a list of students and their quirks. Considering Bakugo's score on the entrance exam, it wouldn't have taken long to find a possible suspect.

Still...a quirk is **not** enough reason for the police to confront a student. And certainly not without approaching his home room teacher first. Choosing to ignore the rage unless the boy actually starts sparking, Aizawa turns his attention to the officer.

"Officer…?"

"Tanaka" the man offers.

"Officer Tanaka, What makes you think my student was the one responsible?"

Bakugo almost starts hissing, while the Tanaka sighs.

"From the damage done to the street in each incident, they clearly went against someone with an explosive quirk. Nothing else matches the blast pattern, and our recent victims all clearly insisted the 'foreign looking, pale-haired asshole with a foul mouth' tried to blow them up."

"FOREIGN?" Bakugo howls. "I'm a hundred percent Japanese you fucker!"

...But he doesn't look it, Aizawa admits to himself. Hair and eye colour are no longer any way to tell ethnicity in a quirk-filled world, but old ways of thinking, especially in countries like Japan, still cling on in some neighbourhoods.

And even disregarding that, Bakugo has already proven the other two parts of the description fit him to a _tee._

"Regardless, I will need to know your whereabouts for these incidents" Tanaka tells Bakugo.

"Do as he says" Aizawa adds, and when it appears the teen is about to erupt again, quickly adds-

"I will be aiding Officer Tanaka in this investigation, and while I have no doubt of your innocence, providing the necessary proof will save everyone a great deal of time and effort."

The boy dearly wants to blast them both – the mental battle in his eyes would almost be hilarious if not for the situation – but he keeps himself in control.

"Fine" he spits out. "Give me the times and I'll tell you where I was. But if you don't find this fucker I'm going hunting myself."

Of that, Aizawa has no doubt. Looks like he'll be working late today.

* * *

"Drinks tonight?" Hizashi asks when Aizawa staggers into the staff room at the end of the day.

"I can't" Aizawa offers. "There's a situation that I need to deal with. I'm meeting with law enforcement in half an hour."

"What!" Hizashi squawks. "You aren't on patrol tonight! I checked."

Aizawa just takes the opportunity to slump down on the sofa, head leaning back as far as it'll go.

"It's student related. There's reports of illegal quirk use, and one of my first years matches the description."

Hizashi gives a low whistle. "Ouch. Do you think-"

"No" Aizawa answers emphatically. "But fingers have to point somewhere unless it's stopped. Officer Tanaka and I will be canvassing the area to try and get a more accurate description, hopefully before another incident takes place."

He runs a hand through his hair before continuing.

"So far, all we know is we have a dozen witnesses insisting they've seen fights in the neighbourhoods north of UA where a teenager used explosions to fight off his opponents" he replies. "A loud, violent, pale haired teenager with little respect for authority and an exceptionally foul mouth. It was a close enough description to Bakugo to bring law enforcement here."

It does, admittedly, sound a _lot_ like Bakugo Katsuki. But whatever his fellow classmates might think, Aizawa knows Bakugo's type – he wouldn't risk his reputation by illegally using his quirk in broad daylight, and he's strong enough not to have to. Which means there's probably an unintentional copycat running around.

It helps that two of his provided alibi's have proven iron clad – he was still in school for the first attack, and he was caught on camera in a subway station for the third, but Aizawa needs to nip this in the bud. Illegal quirk use can ruin a hero's career before it begins – if Bakugo continues to be associated, it wont even matter that he's not responsible, and the explosive teen is going to have enough challenges in making it to graduation without loading another teen's mistakes to his file.

"...You sure they were all near the North?"

Aizawa huffs. "Yes."

"...Anywhere near Seirin High or...the restaurant district?"

Aizawa stills, and pulls his head up. Hizashi looks worried, fingers twisting together in a way he only does when he's feeling guilty.

"Hizashi?"

His friend winces.

"I...may, possibly, know a non-UA teenager living in that district who fits that description?"

Aizawa mentally recalls the area, and a restaurant quickly flashes into his mind. As do Hizashi's many long conversations regarding the infamous 'Yamamoto' and his brood."

His head flops back with a heavy thud.

"You didn't think to mention this earlier?"

"I have mentioned him" Hizashi defends. "I mean, I don't know _for sure_ what his quirk is but-"

"Who is he?" Aizawa asks, before Hizashi realises that he's been toning out quick a bit of the Yamamoto story recap the last few weeks.

"Gokudera" HIzashi offers. "Gokudera Hayato. Sixteen, silver hair, bit of a smoking habit, very, very smart, and extremely protective of what's his. Not certain about his quirk, but I've heard enough in-jokes about his 'explosive personality' to make assumptions.

Aizawa leans forward, eyes narrow.

"Don't suppose he's not fully Japanese?"

"I think Tsuyoshi said he's half-Italian? Definitely something European."

Jackpot.

* * *

Thankfully, Officer Tanaka agrees with him about the possible ID, and they head straight for the restaurant. It's closed – judging from the hours a temporary break so the staff can change for evening service – but the door is unlocked and they head inside.

There's only one figure in view, a man in chef whites behind the counter, who looks up at their arrival. The second he registers them, he sighs, heard lifting up towards the ceiling.

"I should have known it was too good to last" he mutters. "So, which one is it?"

It's the tone of a long-suffering man who knows full well what he can't control. Aizawa can sympathise.

Officer Tanaka on the other hand, just seems amused.

"Yamamoto Tsuyoshi? I'm Officer Tanaka Shinji, and this is the Erase Hero, Eraserhead. I'm afraid we have reports of illegal quirk use, and a possibly suspect is registered as living at this residence" he says. "Eraser head is here due to the nature of the damage."

Yamamoto's eyes glance in Aizawa's direction, and he nods in greeting.

"Witnesses are describing a quirk which is unfortunately similar to one of our students and causing problems. Parts of the neighbourhood are showing signs of explosive-"

The sushi shop owner doesn't even wait for the heroes to stop speaking, taking a step back and hollering into the kitchen.

"Gokudera! Get down here now!"

There's a set of stairs just to the side of the kitchen heading upstairs, just out of sight for customers, and Aizawa hears some muffled sounds from above, followed by thumping, before heavy footfalls announce their suspect.

It's a teenager with silver hair and a delicate bone structure that could almost be called pretty if he wasn't scowling, and adorned with enough gothic accessories to open up a jewellery store. All things considered, he can't really see any resemblance to his student – except maybe a similar taste in skull-motif fashion. When he storms into the restaurant and spots the heroes standing by the door, he scowls even further, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"What the fuck are these bastards doing here?"

Ah, there it is. Bakugo's trademark mouth and disrespect.

Yamamoto, clearly used to the language, merely ignores it. "What have you been doing after school? You told me you handled it legally."

The teen bristled. "I **did!** I checked the laws on self defence six times. They're stupid as all fuck, but very clear. And those assholes used their powers first!"

Officer Tanaka steps forward. "Gokudera Hayato?"

The teens head snaps back.

"What?"

Tanaka quickly rattles off the dates and incidents in question, but Gokudera merely rolls his eyes.

"Sure, that was all me" he says, as if he hasn't just confessed to breaking the law on multiple occasions. "They all needed to be taught a lesson on just where they stood on the food chain."

The policeman is already shaking his head in disbelief.

"Gokudera, if someone intentionally uses their quirk on you, you should be contacting the authorities rather than fighting back with your own-"

"Ah!" The teen shoves a finger at the officer's face. "I didn't use my 'quirk' so didn't do anything wrong."

Tanaka is not impressed, pushing the hand away and glaring at the teen.

"Then they just _happened_ to get admitted to hospital with blast marks and chemical residue on them?"

Gokudera throws his hands into the hair.

"God this place is so backwards! No, they didn't just _happen_ to get those, that's a pretty natural conclusion to someone getting up close and personal with explosives!"

"Are you saying they got too close to your explosive quirk and it was unintentional?" Aizawa asks, although he's pretty sure he's missing something here. The teen glares at him, and then from...somewhere, pulls out what appears to be a stick of dynamite.

"No" he replies. "My quirk is too dangerous for losers like that. I used, old school, real explosives. You bastards get it now?"

"Hayato!"

Eraserhead frowns – the man in front of them had snapped the name, but it had echoed from above.

Ah, at the top of the stairs was a skinny teen with fluffy brown hair, looking absolutely horrified at the situation.

This must be the 'mouse and puppy' from the reports.

When he draws everyone's eyes, he flinches, shuffling down the stairs. Eraserhead expects him to cower behind the puffed up delinquent at the bottom, but instead he steps in front, arm moving just a tiny fraction – an attempt to keep the teen where he is.

More astonishing is the look of awe that appears on Gokudera's face as he takes in his friend. It's the same look Midoriya gets when All Might so much as breathes in his direction. Idol worship in its purest form.

What kind of relationship do these two have?

"Tsuna, this really isn't something you need to be here for" Yamamoto offers, thought Aizawa notes there's not much force to the words. The teen just shakes his head.

The brunet is clearly nervous, but he's ready to protect his friend however necessary. Eraserhead appreciates the sentiment.

But it doesn't change the facts.

"So, your quirk" Eraserhead begins, turning attention back to Gokudera. "It doesn't involve explosions?"

The taller teen snarls, brandishing the stick.

"No! It's not a fucking quirk! What the fuck is wrong with you people? How many times do I have to say it!"

"Hayato!"

The teen's face falls as the boy in front of him chides his outburst, looks away in contrition. The fluffy brunet gives a quick sigh, before stepping forward.

"It's not his quirk sir, I promise. He just really likes explosions – he uses flashy...fireworks?"

The boys sags a little at the last work, and Tsuyoshi covers his eyes with a palm. Clearly, 'fireworks' isn't quite accurate.

Still, if it's _not_ a quirk, it's a matter for police, not heroes, and Bakugo's reputation will be clear.

"Can you prove it?"

Gokudera rolls his eyes and grabs a pair of chopsticks from the same table. He glances over at Tsuna, who then glances at Tsuyoshi, who gives a nod of permission.

The teen's hand glows red, almost as if it's on fire – though it focuses more on the rings the boy wears than the skin – and the chopsticks disintegrate into nothing.

Eraserhead's eyes widen as the flames vanish.

"Disintegration. That's my 'quirk'" Gokudera snaps, though the last word is spoken with an emotion Eraserhead can't quite place. "If I'd used that on those bastards, they wouldn't have lived long enough to complain."

This is honestly not how Aizawa saw this conversation going at all. Clearly, Tanaka isn't much better, but when it becomes clear Gokudera is about to rant, Aizawa pulls the man back to keep him from interfering.

"First assholes thought they could intimidate me just cause they had physical quirks, as if that was enough to scare me, hah! I don't even remember their fucking names! Second group of bastards thought they could attack the Ten... _Tsuna_. I couldn't let that stand! And that pervert tried to flash Kyoko! He should be _grateful_ I'm the one that was there! If it was Turf Top he'd never walk again!"

"...And today?" Aizawa asked, when it appeared the teen was winding down. Gokudera amps up his scowl and looks away.

"Jerks from 'Sushi No Go' and 'Sushero' who aren't happy Yamamoto's sushi's better than theirs" he says. "Thought they could send a guys here and wreck the atmosphere. Sent them packing weeks ago, but guess they thought they'd try again."

Tsuna snaps his head back in shock. "They came back!"

Then he suddenly remembers he has an audience and his head swings back.

"Hiiieee..."

Yamamoto doesn't look much better, closing his eyes and sighing.

"Tsunayoshi, Gokudera, I thought we talked about this."

"We didn't want you to worry!" Gokudera insists. "You do enough for us. Me, The Baseball idiot and the Te...fuck...Tsuna, just thought we could handle it."

"Oh, so Takeshi is involved in this too?"

Both boys wince, but Yamamoto is smiling. It's a little thing, but it's definitely there.

"I thought the whole point of this whole adventure was not having to handle things on your own any more?"

"It is" Tsuna insists. "It's just...hard to remember sometimes."

There's a novel to be read in these words, but this is meant to be Aizawa's evening off, and they still have the original issue to deal with.

"Officer Tanaka, if this wasn't quirk use, I'm not sure any serious crime was committed."

The officer just shakes his head. "There is destruction to public and private property. And if your...weaponry wasn't civilian grade-"

"They were" Gokudera insists. "I made sure of it, just in case this happened."

"You expected to be attacked?" Aizawa asks, and Gokudera grins.

"The laws don't forbid using non-lethal tools for self defence" Gokudera replies. "Quirks are forbidden unless your life is literally on the line, but the laws on weapons and explosives are severely lacking. If a villain decided to ignore the law, having a non-illegal defence just made sense. My bombs were perfectly legal, and I can _prove_ it."

The truth is, he's not wrong. Eraserhead has butted heads with those laws on more than one occasion. When quirks first started appearing, the laws swooped in to corral the more destructive ones, and the traditional rules on self defence...didn't follow. They're a by-product of the generations where having a quirk was rare and quirkless the norm. Many villains get away with slaps on the wrist after dealing with Eraserhead because they fight with tools since their quirk is rendered useless. If Gokudera Hayato has studied those laws as well as Eraserhead thinks he has, then there's no doubt his 'fireworks' were within legal limits.

"I think this is something for your ethics department to deal with" Aizawa mutters to Officer Tanaka, and heads for the door. "I'm going home."

* * *

In the end, Gokudera Hayato is given a months community service and a severe warning not to bring explosives into public areas, and although Bakugo has tried to threaten, bribe and trick the name of 'the copycat bastard' out of Aizawa several times, his reputation stops taking hits.

The nearby delinquent population however, doesn't. Apparently Gokudera is just as dangerous at hand to hand as he is with a quirk or explosives. Something Aizawa learns from Hizashi once he starts listening to his Takesushi mumblings again. They're suddenly a lot more interesting now that he's met two of the wards.

In his own way, Gokudera Hayato is a fascinating individual. Most people, once they develop their quirk, focus on how to use it and it alone. Willing to defend with that and take their chances in court rather than find another way. It's one of the reasons _why_ self-defence laws are still so archaic – there's no great urgency to alter them.

For someone to develop such a destructive quirk, and yet choose to fight with weapons of their own design...it's almost a pity Gokudera never tried out for UA. Eraserhead might have enjoyed seeing where that mind could go. He does hope the decision wasn't made my arrogant fools condemning the boy for having a villains quirk though, he certainly had the temper, disgust and possible history to suggest it hadn't been an easy thing to live with.

And then there was the other boy. Tiny and unassuming, but willing to stare down two heroes to keep his friend safe. Eraserhead can't help but wonder what his quirk is, and what he did to have someone so similar to Bakugo in personality, look at him with such wonder.

...But what on earth did Gokudera keep trying to call him?


	3. Ojiro

Was going to hold off posting this chapter and maybe do another teacher one...then figured it was probably best to just post it to keep what's already written in order.

* * *

It started out a normal evening. School had been let out, and Ojiro was walking down the street with Kaminari and Toru, arguing over their results on the last rescue course, when he spotted a commotion down the street and paused where he stood, while Toru and Kaminari kept movimg forwards.

"Come on, I'm just saying Aizawa-sensei is always a lot harder on me than anyone else" Kaminari whines. "He knows I've got a limit before my head gets screwy."

"Then you need to power through and break that limit" Toru replies. "Plus Ultra."

"Plus Ultra isn't going to help when my IQ falls into negatives. Ojiro, help me out here."

The other teen however, doesn't reply, and the two stopped and turned back.

"Ojiro?"

The teen lifted a hand and pointed forward.

"Is that Hideki?"

Both teens blink, and turn forwards. There were two teenagers in black uniforms talking outside one of the restaurants. A tall black haired boy, and a shorter brown haired one with overly large hands. Kaminari turns in confusion.

"Who?"

Ojiro blinks and gives a sheepish smile.

"Oh, Sorry. The brown haired guy over there, we grew up in the same area. Went to the same elementary and middle school."

Kaminari glances over, taking in the two. 'Hideki' was apparently trying to plead something to the taller black haired teen.

"Well once they've finished, want to go say hi?"

Ojiro grins, and shrugs.

"Why not."

They start moving closer, and the noise soon solidifies into words, frustration evident in Hideki's voice.

'C'mon Yamamoto! Surely you can talk him into it? Even just a trial basis?"

The other teen just laughs.

"Sorry Hideki, but Tsuna really isn't into sports. I don't want to guilt him into something he doesn't want to do."

"But you know how important next weeks game is-"

"Hideki" Yamamoto interrupts, voice dropping. "No."

"What about the school's reputa-"

"Keep pushing and I'll drop the team."

The other boy clams up, and Yamamoto's eyes narrow with a dangerous glint. Ojiro fights off a shudder.

"Please, drop it."

The brown haired boy sags, and the other teen grins, the threatening aura vanishing as he gives him a short wave before walking through the door of the restaurant they'd been bickering in front of. Once alone, the brown haired teen ran a hand through his hair and sighs in frustration.

"Hideki?"

The boy turns, and his face lights up as he takes in Ojiro.

"Ojiro!" he yells. "I haven't seen you since graduation!"

His eyes flit down as he takes in their uniforms, and grins.

"Hey, you made it into UA? That's awesome."

Kaminari steps forward with an equal smile.

"No. 1 hero class students right here."

"You don't need to brag Kaminari" Ojiro warns. "But yeah, I made it in. These are my classmates, Kaminari, and Toru. Guys, this is Hideki."

Hideki nods.

"Nice to meet you. I'll have to root for you when the school festival rolls around."

His eyes flick across the road, focusing on a fast food restaurant, and he jerks a thumb in it's direction.

"Want to get something to eat and catch up? Love to hear about what UA is really like. You hear so many rumours."

* * *

A few minutes later, they were all seated in the burger joint, while Hideki spoke about his own entry to high school.

"You know, I considered trying out for UA, but to be honest, my heart wasn't in it" he said, sipping on a soda. "I really love baseball. Most kids want to play heroes, I just wanted to play the game. And my quirk is perfect for the quirk leagues. Seirin all but guaranteed me a place before my last year of middle school was a month in, so there was never much question about it."

He points a finger at Ojiro.

"This one got the same offer after he won that Karate championship, but he refused to consider it until he'd at least tried for UA."

Both Kaminari and Toru glance at the now blushing Ojiro.

"I didn't realise you'd considered that Ojiro" Toru says, and the teen just smiled and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, my quirk's not exactly flashy. A lot of people thought I'd do better in sports than hero work."

Toru makes an 'oh' in understanding.

Although you need a hero licence to use your quirk in public, it's not the only licence out there. When quirks started becoming more and more prevalent, especially ones that involved physical mutations, there was one business that demanded that they be allowed to use quirks freely. Sports.

The US, Russia and China had been by far the loudest defenders. They were quick to argue that banning somebody with four arms instead of two, or someone that could jump significantly higher than the norm would be a violation of human rights. If quirks are here to stay, why can't sporting teams take advantage? Is it really any different from signing on players with natural talent?

It took forever to hammer out the logistics, but eventually, Quirk-Leagues became a thing. While Hero schools trained students in how to become heroes who could use their quirks in public, Sport Schools emerged to train students in how to use their quirk on the field. The rules on quirk use were thorough and detailed, dependent on the quirk in question, and the sport being played.

For a lot of would-be heroes who don't make it into the highly selective hero courses, sports is often their go-to fallback. She herself had been scouted by a few teams who could see the value of having an invisible player, but they'd all been refused once she'd been certain of her UA acceptance.

"Well, the sporting world's loss is our gain" Kaminari offers, and Ojiro grins, only to glance out the window, and jerk a hand at the street outside at the sushi restaurant opposite.

"So, what was that all about? You sounded frustrated."

Hideki sighs and glances out the window with an almost wistful expression.

"Do you remember in middle school, there was that kid who had some kind of super accuracy quirk? And everyone tried to get him onto the baseball or archery teams, but instead stuck it out in the chess club?"

Ojiro frowns. "Yeah. Everyone thought he was crazy, he was practically made for sports, but he wasn't interested."

Hideki laughs. "Well, my class at Seirin has the sequel. Sawada Tsunayoshi, who has one of the coolest quirks I've ever seen, but has made it his goal in life to get through school without ever using it."

"Well isn't that to be respected?" Toru asks. "After all, the public isn't meant to use their quirks so casually."

"But he won't even use it in quirk approved gym classes unless the teachers flat out order him to!" Hideki whines. "We didn't even know everything he could do until Ottowa-Sensei ordered him not to hold back last week!"

"Wow" Kaminari laughs. "Who doesn't take any chance they can to use their quirk? I mean, half the point of going to a sports school is how flexible the no-quirk rules can be."

"Maybe he's embarrassed by it?" Toru offers. "Or he can't control it very well?"

"Are you kidding?" Hideki scoffs. "If anything he should be in school with _you_! His quirk's crazy powerful, and he definitely knows how to use it. Our gym teacher nearly tore out his hair when he realised he had no intention of joining the quirk teams."

He slumps in his seat. "The guy I was talking to, that's Yamamoto Takeshi. He's on the non-quirk team, but honestly, he plays on the quirk team a lot to make up numbers in practice because he's just _that_ good, and he's one of Tsuna's best friends. I thought maybe I could talk him into convincing Tsuna, but I got nowhere."

"Is his quirk really that useful?" Ojiro asks, and Hideki throws his head in his hands.

"Well, until recently we didn't realise he wasn't using the whole thing. It's got a weird name and nobody was really sure what it did – to be honest I just thought it was some kind of super accurate intuition thing, he's really good at predicting people's moves. At first teachers thought he'd be good as a manager or a strategist or something, but then Ottowa-Sensei got his hands on everyone's quirk registration and let us have a no holds barred game for fun, and turns out, he can fly!"

Everyone's jaws dropped.

"Fly?" Kaminari squeaks.

"That's a pretty rare quirk" Ojiro says, eyes wide. "Is he affecting gravity or-"

Hideki shakes his head. "I don't know how to explain it, but he was way out in the field, and Touga – he's got this wind quirk – sends the ball flying into the sky. Everyone was positive it was going to be a home run, and then the next thing we know, Tsuna's got this weird...fire-thing glowing on his head and his hands and he's shooting up in the air! Catches the ball about twenty metres up, and he _keeps doing it!_ The other team couldn't get a single hit out that he didn't catch.

"Oh, so it's not a flight quirk but a fire quirk" Toru offers, fist thumping into her other hand in understanding. "He used the propulsion of the flames?"

"That's what we thought, but get this. His glove, and the ball? They weren't even _singed_. After he caught it? He used the same propulsion trick to send it flying towards Yamamoto at speed, who, don't ask me how, catches it. Ball wasn't even **warm**. Whatever it is, it looks like fire, but it's not."

Ojiro's eyes widen in understanding. "Which means it's not limited by the rules for elemental quirks."

Toru's starting to understand why Hideki's so upset. Elemental quirks are some of the most dangerous – just look at what Todoroki can do with his ice with little effort, or Kaminari, brain-frying aside – and as such, how and when they can be used in sports is highly controlled and regulated. So much so that it's rarely worth playing. If Sawada's quirk only _looks_ like fire...

"Exactly!" Hideki answers. "And once you add that with the intuition? He could be unstoppable on the field! It's a crazy useful multi-quirk! He can figure out what people are going to do before they do, he can fly, _and,_ he can throw with insane length and speed. When he uses it, it is literally **impossible** to score against him, because he knows where you're going to aim. He throws faster than most people can follow, and there's no height or distance he can't reach. It's the kind of quirk you _dream_ of getting when you're a kid. Honestly, I don't know why he didn't try out for the hero exams."

"Wait, he's got a quirk like that, and didn't even _apply_ for a Hero Course?" Ojiro asks, and Hideki shakes his head.

"He almost looked _confused_ when people asked. Like what he can do isn't supposed to be amazing or something. Although all his friends are kind of like that. They've all got these powerful quirks but, it's like they've never considered using them before. Hell, Yamamoto could have applied for the quirk-team – his quirk can slow people down or something – but he didn't even consider it. Chrome has some kind of _construction_ quirk but is as oblivious as Tsuna when you ask about Hero courses."

Kaminari whistles.

"Then there's Gokudera, some kind of genius punk who I swear is midway through his villain origin story" Hideki says with a shudder. "Seriously, he's scarier than his quirk, and his quirk is freakin' _disintegration_ _._ At least Kyoko is sweet; she's actually quirkless, but **nobody** messes with her without facing the wrath of that group. I think they're all friends with her older brother or something, probably promised to look out for her."

His cheeks tinge pink and his eyes glance to the side.

"To be honest, I think she's quirkless because if she had one, she'd take over the world. Half the school's in love with her. She's _really_ cute."

Ojiro chokes back a laugh and Kaminari snickers while Toru rolls her eyes, and they all sit back as the frustration clears for amusement.

* * *

"I like your friend Ojiro, we'll have to watch a game or two if we get the chance."

Ojiro smiles, waving goodbye as Hideki vanished down the street.

"Thanks Toru. Maybe we can talk the rest of the class into coming too. Hideki would probably get a kick out of it."

"Maybe by then he'll have talked that weird classmate of his into playing for the team too" Kaminari adds, pushing off the wall he'd been leaning on. "It's kind of crazy though. Who gets a quirk like that and doesn't go for a hero school?"

Ojiro frowns as they start walking.

"Honestly, that's not the craziest part."

Toru looks at him.

"What do you mean?"

Ojiro shrugs.

"The question I'd like to ask is, how does someone develop a quirk like that and not get pressured by society to at least _try_ the exam?"

Kaminari stilled, and cocked his head.

"...Huh. That's a good point. The second my quirk showed up I was being told to try for a hero course by every adult and teacher that saw it. Quirk counsellors were putting my name down on waiting lists."

Toru nodded. "You're right. We even had scouts looking for recommendations. They would have snapped a quirk like that up all the way back in kindergarten."

Ojiro shrugs. "There's probably a simple explanation. Like he's from a small town or he's got family influence. But it does seem odd."

"Eh, it's an odd world" Kaminari offers. "If we ever see him in person, you can ask. But I wouldn't worry about it – what are the odds we'll ever meet?"

The tailed boy laughs.

"Good point. I'm just overthinking things. Race you to the station?"

"Oh you're on!"

Toru squawks as the two rush past, accidentally knocking into a short, brown haired boy to the side.

"Hiiieee!"

"Oh for – Sorry! – wait for me!"

She chases after them, leaving the teen behind. By the time they've reached the station, he – and their earlier conversation – has left their minds entirely.

* * *

I openly admit I'm adding my own world building here. I haven't read enough of BNHA to know if this is a reasonable addition or if it genuinely exists, but quite frankly, the first thing I thought when I read that you needed a license to use your quirk was 'there is NO way sports leagues didn't contest that.'

Seriously, long before anyone became worried about heroes, I assure you that sporting leagues were defending their right to use people with multiple limbs, stretch or jump in sports. And given that the UA school festival is apparently more popular than the Olympics in this world, it's clear people like watching people use quirks. As anyone who has watched any Sports anime EVER, will admit. Sport licences are a thing in the BNHA world, and if they're not, they should be.


	4. Midnight

Never let it be said that Nemuri Kayama didn't love to make an entrance.

The second she stepped foot into Takesushi, almost every head did a double take, and she basked in the attention. Admittedly, it was probably because she was half carrying, half choke-holding a bandage-clad Shouta at the time, but hey, whatever works.

Behind her, Hizashi slipped past the duo, giving a finger gun salute to the greeter. The girl barely bats an eye at them, matching Hizashi's grin with cheer.

"Good evening Yamada. Table for three?"

She gestures into the restaurant, and Hizashi, rather mockingly gestures for the two of them to go forward, and Nemuri glances down at her mummified captive.

"All right, we're here, you can let me go" Shouta mutters. "I'm hardly going to jump out a window."

Hizashi grins and pats his friend on the head.

"With you Shouta, that's a perfectly believable outcome."

From what little they can see of his face, they're pretty sure the man is scowling, and his eyes flicker to the door. Nemuri shakes him slightly.

"Don't even try it Shouta" she warns. "We haven't had a night out in months, and I want sushi."

"How did he talk you into this?" Shouta mutters, and Nemuri grins.

"Easy. Hizashi promised to cover the drink bill.

Shouta rolls his eyes, but halts most of his struggling now that he's in the building. To be fair, most of his argument had been superficial, Nemuri's gotten good at telling when the underground hero is genuinely not up for company and when it's just out of habit. His biggest issue with coming to Takesushi had been it's proximity to UA – he considers it bad form to be caught drinking anywhere his students might see. Especially when you're still visibly recovering from a near fatal villain attack.

But Hizashi had been hounding him to come here for weeks now, and Nemuri, always happy to socialise, especially on someone else's funds, hadn't taken much convincing as backup. Honestly, it's also a little bit of a punishment for Shouta after the USJ incident – the stupid workaholic gave them all heart attacks when he vanished from the hospital to teach class of all things.

And if he's well enough to teach, he's well enough to go out for a meal in a busy restaurant.

They settle into a table in the corner, which result's in Shouta finally loosing some of the tension in his shoulders. With a wall to his back and allies on both sides, the injured man might actually have a decent night – honestly, Nemuri doesn't know how the underground hero hasn't dropped dead from the sheer stress of living yet.

She's mentally wondering if Aizawa even remembers how to relax when a young teenager with a mess of brown hair reaches their table.

"Yamada" he greets with a smile. "Good evening! Did you have a good day?"

Hizashi grins at the teenager.

"Yo, Tsuna. Gotten promoted to front of house today?"

'Tsuna' blushes. "Ah, Gokudera's been a little...pent up today. Tsuyoshi asked me to switch. Would you like your usual?"

Hizashi shakes his head, and gestures to his two companions.

"We're celebrating my buddy's status from 'life-threatening' to 'stable'" he says, stabbing his elbow into Shouta's side just a tad fiercer than he probably should. "Whatever Yamamoto recommends – let's go omakase."

Their young waiter smiles and nods, before his eyes glance over at Aizawa, and frowns slightly, taking in the mummified body.

"I'm sorry...Have I met you before?"

"He's got one of those faces" Hizashi pipes up, grin threatening to split his face in half. Understandable considering most of Aizawa's face is hidden by medical gauze. The teen looks confused, but shakes his head, clearly choosing not to pursue it.

When he leaves, drinks order in hand, Nemuri leans over the table with a smirk.

"Okay Mr 'Usual'" she says. "Who's who? Introduce us to your new family."

Hizashi rolls his eyes. "Hah Hah.

However, he quickly learns round and nods towards the kitchen. "Well, Fuuta's probably upstairs, he's too young to really help out in the restaurant, but Yamamoto and his kid, Takeshi are in the kitchen with their resident hothead, Gokudera" he says. "That's the one Shouta had a run in with."

From her seat, Nemuri can't really see into the kitchen, other than the odd tuft of head, but nods anyway. "The hothead's usually a waiter? Interesting choice."

"He's a _delight_ " Hizashi snickers. "Seriously, you should see him whenever Tsuna's in his immediate vicinity, his personality does a complete 180. It's _hilarious_. The way Tsuyoshi understands it, I think Tsuna saved his life or something and he went all medieval samurai over it."

He then points over to the girls near the entrance.

"Chrome is usually on the take out counter. Apparently she was briefly tutored by someone with a head for figures? She's happiest there anyway, and Kyoko is our charming greeter, chosen for the role because there's is literally _nothing_ that will surprise her, though she sometimes works as a waitress whenever her brother isn't around...ah!"

He cocks a finger over at a teen heading out of the kitchen with plates, heading for tables near front of the restaurant.

"That's her brother, Ryohei. He's the oldest and probably does the most shifts here since he's graduated already. Wants to be a boxer and from what Yamamoto tells me, might actually make his debut next year. To be honest, he kind of reminds me of-"

"Yagi!"

Both men blink at her in confusion.

"Well, no. I was gonna say the redhead in Shouta's class, though now that you mention it-"

He trails off when he realises Nemuri isn't talking to him, but looking across the restaurant, half standing from her seat and waving at a tall, blond man standing in the take out line. At the sound of his name, the older hero whips his head around, before smiling and giving a short wave in their direction.

That's not enough for Nemuri though, who quickly changes her wave to her 'come hither' gesture, mindless of Hizashi's ' _really Nemuri?_ ' She has a brand, so so sue her.

The man looks a tad nervous, but heads over anyway.

"Good evening" he greets. "I heard you speaking about going out, but didn't realise it would be here."

Nemuri jerks a thumb Hizashi's way. "Well, this lug's been rhapsodising about the place for weeks, and I've never been disappointed by the take out. Figured we'd celebrate Shouta's near death spectacle with the full experience."

"It was not a spectacle" Shouta mutters, and his dinner mates snicker. Nemuri knows they've succeeded in the breaking the ice when she spots Yagi's lip quirk in a guilty smile.

Hizashi grins and leans on the table. "Want to join us?"

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to intrude-" the man begins, but Nemuri waves him off.

"Don't be silly, the more the merrier right? Sit, sit. Unless you've got somewhere to be?"

The man hesitates for a brief moment, before his shoulders relax and a sheepish smile creeps onto his face.

"Well, I admit I don't really have plans" he says, before frowning over at Aizawa. "But, my boy, are you sure you're recovered enough to-"

"Yes" Hizashi and Nemuri both snap, while Aizawa gives a little huff of amusement.

"You sneak out of hospital _one time..."_

At that moment, Tsuna appears with their drink orders, and gave Yagi a double take.

"Ah, good evening sir" he stutters. "Will you be joining this table?"

"We ordered omakase" Hizashi offers.

Yagi however, shakes his head.

"Oh no, I ordered take out. If you could just ask Miss Chrome to send it here. I have some...medical restrictions, so I'm afraid I have to be more particular with my options."

Tsuna nods, though he does seem to be looking at Yagi with some concern. The older hero just requests water for his beverage, and the boy darts off.

"We could have just let Yamamoto know your restrictions for his choices" Hizashi adds once the boy is clear, but Yagi just waves his hands in dismissal.

"I appreciate the thought, but there's no reason for you to hold back because of me. There are more than enough options here for me to enjoy."

"So how are you taking to being a teacher?" Nemuri asks, pouring a glass for herself. She's got a tab to fill, and a personal best to beat. "It's been a sharp learning curve, especially with all the chaos."

Yagi gives a sad laugh. "Yes, I must admit I wasn't quite as prepared as I'd hoped to be. And it's been harder than expected to work around my time limit."

At that he glances in Aizawa's direction with an apologetic look. Aizawa avoids the expression by awkwardly grabbing his glass and looking out the window.

"Oh look, food's on the way" Hizashi blurts out, looking over at the kitchen. "Followed by a perfect change of subject."

Both Tsuna and the adult Yamamoto are heading to the table, each carrying trays. Tsuna looks far too nervous as he sets his own out, and Nemuri grins as she spots one of her personal favourites in the first course. Yamamoto then moves forward to set his own plates down.

"Evening Yamada. I'm guessing this is the friend you've been telling me about."

Hizashi grins and gestures towards Aizawa, whose rolling his eyes but otherwise watching the man with civility.

"Yup. This is Aizawa Shouta, best friend since high school" he says. "Please excuse the bandages, he has no concept of self restraint."

"I don't need to here that from you" Aizawa mutters, then glances at Yamamoto and greets him with a nod.

"Thank you for putting up with this idiot" he says. "How have you settled in Musutafu?"

Yamamoto grins. "It's been an adjustment, but so far it's been mostly positive."

He then looks over at Yagi, and starts placing down his plates.

"Now these are your take out. Along with a few dishes from Hizashi's order that should be fine for you."

Yagi's eyes widen as he takes in the spread, and both Hizashi and Nemuri grin.

"Let me know if these are suitable" Yamamoto says, stepping back. "Given the circumstances, I can replace or substitute if need be."

"No, this is...perfect" Toshinori replies, half frowning in suspicion. "I know I ordered some of this for take out, but how did you the rest would be fine?"

"Chrome" Yamamoto admits, glancing over at the girl working the take out counter. "She's seen you come in a few times and spotted a pattern."

Toshinori smiles.

"Well give her my thanks. And yours as well."

Yamamoto grins. "I wouldn't be much of a chef if I couldn't work around health restrictions. Please enjoy."

The man heads back for the kitchen, while Tsuna smiles and gives them a short bow.

"Let me know if there's anything I can do for you!"

As he walks over to see to another table, Nemuri shakes her head.

"Well I've got a new bet for the staff room pool" she says with a grin. "How long Yamamoto Tsuyoshi stays on the market. Just how is _that,_ still available?"

"The whole, widow-with-seven-kids _might_ have something to do with it Nemuri" Hizashi warns, eyes narrow. "Don't start meddling, I am not getting barred from the best sushi in town because you wanted some live entertainment."

"Oh don't tell me you're not curious" Nemuri laughs. "He's a cook, he's a family man, he's not half bad on the eyes, and apparently he's exceptionally observant. I know at least three woman and two men that would lock _that_ down in a heartbeat."

She snaps her fingers with a grin before grabbing her chopsticks and digging in. Hizashi scowls at her, but Shouta elbows him, and he lets it go, lifting a plate closer to grab the sushi.

Normally, Nemuri would have considered joking about it a little longer, but honestly, the food deserves her full attention. Sushi has never been her favourite, but Tsuyoshi's work is making her seriously reconsider her stance.

Judging from the half smile on Shouta's face, she's not the only one either. Yagi's also making very agreeable noises next to her.

"Better than some take out alone huh?" Nemuri asks, and Yagi nods.

"It is getting hard to find food I can digest that still has any variety of flavour" he admits. "This is a welcome treat."

Hizashi grins, and bumps Aizawa's shoulder.

"That's two thumbs up, how about you Shouta. Glad I dragged you out?"

"You'd already force fed me sushi more than once Hizashi" he says, glancing over. "You already knew I liked it."

"Well, yeah" Hizashi admits. "But the food's just half of it. What about the ambience? The staff? Yamamoto himself?"

Aizawa huffs. "All things considered, the restaurant is acceptable."

Hizashi just throws up his hands.

"You know what? I'll take it. Just eat your sushi."

* * *

Over the next hour, Tsuna brings them over several more plates, and considerably more alcohol, so by the end of the meal, Nemuri is slightly red in the face and very grateful she's not working tomorrow. Hizashi is giggling slightly, and she gets immense pleasure in remembering he **is.** Judging from the way Aizawa is shaking his head and Yagi is wincing, they know too.

"Hizashi, for the sake of your remaining brain cells and the headache you're going to have tomorrow, I'm cutting you off" Aizawa warns. "Nemuri, that goes for you too."

"Awww" she whines. "But Hizashi promised."

"And I once promised you when we were green eyed graduates, that neither Hizashi or I would ever let you get so drunk you couldn't get home under your own power."

The woman frowns.

"I was a naive little girl back then. And I can hold my liquor."

Hizashi snickers. "That would be more believable if you weren't eating with the two guys who spent most of their early twenties keeping your hair out of the toilet you were throwing up in."

"Hey!" Nemuri squawks and points at him accusingly. "I did it just as much for you Mr. Cockatoo!"

Yagi watches the fight with bemusement, while Aizawa chooses to tune it out and people watch in the restaurant. The young Tsuna has been darting around with the nervous air of someone new to his job, while the older Ryohei has been masking his experience with spectacular enthusiasm. Gokudera's cussed more than once during the evening, though he's been silent for a while, most likely on dishwashing duty with Chrome - who retired from the take out booth when it closed – while both Yamamoto's have been hidden most of the night, only popping out when there's a significantly large order coming out, or when Yamamoto is greeting a regular customer. Kyoko is still at the front, though she's been clearing tables as the restaurant gets quieter, and as such has to rush back to the front when the door opens.

"Good evening!" he hears her call. "Welcome to...oh no..."

He barely hears her, but the four men walking into the building have her backing off, and his shoulders tense.

"Hizashi" Shouta snapped, cutting off his bickering friends. "Trouble."

He nodded towards the door, and as one Nemuri, Hizashi and Yagi glanced over. Four men had strode in, bypassing the greeter and heading straight for the chef in the kitchen. Before they could reach the counter, the silver haired Gokudera had stormed out of the kitchen stood in their way with a glare.

"How many times do I have to beat your asses before you get a clue?"

"Cut the attitude kid" said the first man, tall and imposing. "You think we're just going to stand by and let you run us out of business?"

"Isn't that Misaki Gaoh?" Nemuri whispers. "The owner of Sushero?"

Shouta nods. "And if I'm not mistaken, the gentleman in the back is Ren Suguromu, he owns Sushi-No-Go."

"How do _you_ know that?" Yamada asks. "You haven't set foot in a restaurant that didn't deliver without force."

The man scowls. "When I was here investigating, the children mentioned getting into trouble with the local sushi restaurants. I made a point to look into it. The two of them have been making trouble for this place with regular complaints to the local police, but nothing's stuck. Everything Yamamoto's doing is above board."

Apparently they'd gotten tired of going through official channels, and judging from what Gokudera was snapping, their complaints had gotten physical.

"If you're so upset about it, how about your stop whining at us and fix up your own joints" Gokudera growls, rubbing his fists together – Nemuri winces when she notices they're already bruised, no wonder he was relegated to the back tonight.

"Someone here is misusing their quirk!" Gaoh snapped.

Gokudera rolls his eyes.

"For the last time, you brain dead morons, nobody in this restaurant is using a quirk."

Gaoh just matches him scowl for scowl, but Suguromo pushes him aside for his own two cents.

"Sushi-No-Go has been an icon of this district for over a decade. Your little pop up store's barely been here 3 months but you've already seduced half our customers. Nobody does that without help."

"Perhaps you should spend less time complaining to us and more time working on your people skills" Gokudera hisses. "Not your fault Yamamoto's better than you."

"It's not success if it's illegal!"

That makes Gokudera burst into laughter, and suddenly, there's a fluffy brown waiter standing in front of him.

"Please, we don't want any trouble" Tsuna insists. "All we've done is open up a sushi restaurant. Nobody used fl-ah, quirks to help, we're just popular. That's not a crime!"

"That doesn't mean you're not criminals" Gaoh snaps, and one of the heavier built men flanking them smirks.

"A man who knows his way around a blade, with a literal pack of teens, three of which immediately head for violence and another missing an eye? You're all running from something you little brats."

Tsuna flinches, and Gokudera bristles like a wet cat.

"Don't you dare disrespect the Te-"

"Our past is none of your business!" Tsuna yells, and everyone jerks back in surprise. He's such a meek little thing, Nemuri didn't think he was capable of it. Hizashi's openly gaping.

"Whatever you think we've done, it's got nothing to do with this restaurant. You don't get to whine about losing customers just because you've got more competition. We are allowed to be here. We have _earned_ the right to be here."

"Oh shit" Hizashi mutters. "That's not going to help."

For a moment, Nemuri thinks he's talking about the outburst, which makes no sense – but then realises Tsuna's eyes have changed. The brown has melted into a vibrant orange, most likely some kind of quirk effect.

Suguromo and Gaoh's eyes widen.

"How dare you!" Suguromo yells, back-pedalling. "You're using it right now."

The final man, whose been silent so far, slides forward and lunges for Tsuna, who gives a high squeal and falls into Gokudera, whose reaching for something in a back pocket. Before he reaches it however, something crashes in the kitchen, and everyone freezes as Yamamoto Tsuyoshi storms out, his son tailing behind. The younger immediately goes to Tsuna and Gokudera's side, while Tsuyoshi only has eyes for the men.

"Let me make this perfectly clear" he warns. "Nobody is doing anything illegal in this restaurant. But touch any one of my kids and that is going to change _very_ quickly.

Hizashi suddenly notices that the chef is still carrying a knife in his other hand and quickly stands.

"Okay as fun as this is, I think it's time we stepped in. Yagi, please sit. Shouta, give me your scarf."

Aizawa, already half out of his seat, gives him a glare while Yagi looks torn. But he's long past his limit, and they all know it, and Shouta really shouldn't be doing any additional work if he can avoid it.

Nemuri grins and starts unbuttoning her top.

"Ooh, dinner and a show, you do know how to treat a girl."

She slides out of her seat. The second 'bodyguard' is trying to flank the chef, but Nemuri reaches him first, and her quirk immediately has him dropping to the ground. The other finds himself getting yanked back, wrapped in the capture tape held in Hizashi's hands.

"Now what do we have here" Nemuri chuckles, walking towards the group.

Their backup gone, both restaurant owners pale and step back, while Yamamoto eyes up Hizashi – whose blushing a little at the stare – and Nemuri rounds on the instigators.

"Are you intentionally trying to cause an incident at this fine establishment in order to close it?" she asks. "Because that's very not allowed."

"...Midnight?" Gaoh gasps, head swinging. "But who is?"

"YO!" Hizashi offers. "I don't have my speaker, so for the sake of everyone's eardrums, lets keep this civil shall we?"

"What the fuck?" Gokudera mutters, still hidden by Yamamoto.

"Why are you eating here?" Suguromo asks faintly.

"...Because we were hungry and need to eat like normal people?" Hizashi replies.

"But why were you eating _here?"_

Hizashi rolls his eyes.

"Miss Midnight" Gaoh pleads. "Sushero has always offered it's entire menu to official heroes for free. Why would you waste your hard earned money here?"

"And Sushi No Go has been in this area since UA was first founded" Suguromo added. "Its reputation is impeccable."

Nemuri rolls her eyes. "Please, that place is so stuffy even Endeavour wouldn't set foot in it. And Sushero only offers a free meal if you come in costume and allow guests to approach you, which frankly is the last thing I want when I'm off duty. I can eat wherever I want."

That seems to break something in both of the men, as they just stare at here with dull eyes.

"Now how about the two of you clear off while we process your men."

"There's no need for that" Yamamoto pipes up. "So long as they leave and don't come back I wont press charges. This time."

Nemuri and Hizashi grin.

"Not a bad offer" Nemuri finishes, watching as her victim groans and struggles back to his feet. "Take it or leave it."

The men glance at each other, and head off. Nemuri's however, shakes his head as if trying to clear the doziness, then moves for Tsuna again.

Nemuri scowls and steps forward, but before she can deal with him more permanently, capture tape flies over and sends the man flying to the ground again. Hizashi immediately rounds on the captor.

"Shouta!"

Aizawa shrugs, still sitting at the table.

"What? I carry spares, and I barely moved."

* * *

After the excitement, most of the remaining customers decided to clear out, but the heroes hang back, and watch Hizashi try to apologise while Yamamoto brings over the cheque – the boys in the kitchen cleaning up while Kyoko and Chrome sweep up the front.

"Sorry I didn't tell you I was Present Mic" Hizashi offers, rubbing the back of his head. Tsuyoshi just shrugs.

"I already knew."

"It's just we kind of got off on the wrong foot and-wait-"

Hizashi falters. "You _knew_?"

"Tsuna figured it out the third time you came in" Yamamoto admits. "And even if he hadn't, I would have guessed after you started coming in with that disaster of a ponytail during the day."

The voice hero flushes in embarrassment, and Nemuri stifles a snicker.

"He has a point. That was not much of a disguise."

Shouta's openly grinning too, and Hizashi's probably grateful he's at least spared All Might's mockery. Yagi had decided to head out once the chaos had died down and give his own report on what happened to the local police station – just in case the men tried to put their own spin on events. Probably for the best given that both Nemuri and Hizashi are off duty and slightly drunk, and Aizawa looks like he should still be in hospital.

"It's not like it mattered" Yamamoto continues. "Despite what those idiots think, we're not criminals-"

In the front, Kyoko suffers a short coughing fit that ends with a high squeak.

"-And we've done nothing to warrant hero intervention" Yamamoto finishes.

"Anyone with eyes can see that" Hizashi chuckles.

"Especially when they're here every week" Shouta mutters under his breath.

* * *

"Well, that was an informative and entertaining night" Nemuri announces, walking out the door into the evening light. "Dinner, drinks, conflict, and finally getting to meet your food-crush, Hizashi."

"Oh, hah hah" Hizashi mocks, adjusting his glasses and half stumbling after her. He avoids falling thanks to Shouta yanking him back at the last minute.

She grins and waves goodbye as she heads down the street. As much as she complained, Aizawa made good on his promise to keep her sober enough to walk home, and he'll make sure Yamada does too. They'll have to do this again sometime, though hopefully without angry business owners showing up.

Most likely Yamamoto's competitors will continue to cause havoc, but there's no doubt in her mind he'll manage to fight them off, even without the aid of well fed heroes.

Nemuri can already tell why Takesushi is so successful, and it's not because of quirk misuse. Frankly, it's ridiculous that the other restaurants haven't figured it out.

Sushero trades on being near the superhero school – it's hideously over-priced and over-marketed. It mostly attracts families with young kids and hero-chasers. And Sushi-no-Go prides itself on tradition, but hasn't kept up with the times. There isn't a single student at the school that would set foot in it without a parent, because they won't be welcome, and there's no creativity. It's the kind of place where you need to dress up – not great for people looking for a bite after work.

Takesushi has good food, reasonably priced and without any kitchy marketing to put people off. But it's also friendly towards the younger clientele in the neighbourhood – most of the staff are young teenagers themselves. It's a perfect setup – the only suspicious part is how perfect, but every success story starts out that way, it's certainly not evidence of illegal activity.

Although...that Tsuna did activate his quirk, whatever it was. She couldn't see what it did – maybe it was just a physical alteration – but she doubts Gaoh and Suguromo will let it go that easily.

Maybe she'll show up tomorrow and give Yamamoto a number to a lawyer. Just in case.

* * *

Ugh...why is this developing a plot?...


	5. All Might

_...I really shouldn't be publishing this particular chapter first. But I really wanted to write it, and something tells me you'll all REALLY enjoy it._

* * *

He knows it's impossible, but Yagi Toshinori swears villains have a sixth sense for when he's reached his limit. There's less than a minute left, he's done with his usual patrols, and he was hoping he might actually get through shopping for groceries and back home without calamity, when a window on the other side of the street shatters with force.

A thousand spectacular curses want to come out of his mouth, but he bites them down and frantically looks for somewhere he can dump his bags and transform without issue.

As he dives into the alley, he silently begs that it's just one small time villain and not a group or professional causing havoc. He really does not need to hear the lecture he'll get for overdoing it **again**.

Unfortunately, it looks as if Recovery Girl will get a repeat performance, because there's 3 villains, and while they're not pros, the sound quirk, barrier quirk and can-telekinetically-control-glass quirk are clearly used to working together. Given enough time, he could easily dispatch them. However-

At fifty-five seconds, he finds himself being thrown into a shattered store window and feels his form begin to fall apart. Only a few feet away, there's a table overturned, t-shirts once on display now scattered across the floor, and he runs for it. He gets out of sight just in time for his quirk to give out, and sighs as he reverts to Toshinori Yagi.

The only consolation is that the barrier quirk had been in effect, and it was clear the user couldn't see through it when activated, so the villains had no idea where All Might had escaped to. All he could do now was hide and wait until the back up he'd called made it to the scene.

That's when he hears a squeak, and when he glances up, the curses are back in his throat.

There's a girl huddled beside a wall, using the table as and the structure as cover, the one eye not covered by an eyepatch wide at All Might's apparent deflating. To make things worse...he recognises her.

"Miss Chrome" he says, voice light. For all he knows, she'd been so busy hiding from the noises she hadn't noticed-

"Y-Yagi?" she stutters. "You...how...All Might?"

Oh, Yamada is **never** going to let him hear the end of this. And that's assuming Aizawa, Recovery Girl or Nedzu don't kill him for letting yet another civilian in on his – literally fatal – secret.

"What you saw is classified Miss Chrome" he warns. "People aren't supposed to know about my...condition."

He can see the comprehension dawn in her eye, and to both his astonishment and relief, her panic dims to a confident understanding.

"A secret then. I can do that" she says, almost to herself more than Yagi, but he's grateful either way. "It's because you're injured? Your organs aren't right?"

"Yes" Yagi admits, because honestly at this point it can hardly do more harm. "I'm surprised you could tell."

"I know a bit about abdomen injuries" she admits, while hand brushes against her side. Yagi frowns, but the hand then goes straight for a bag hidden behind her, and she smiles, pushing aside any thoughts he might have brewing.

From outside, there's another explosion and the shattering of glass, followed by the sounds of screaming and Yagi grits his teeth. He hates this. The villains are literally right there and he can't do anything-

"Shouldn't you be going back out?" Chrome says, voicing his thoughts and forcing him back to reality. "How long do you have to wait before you can transform again?"

Yagi's heart sinks. The young woman still thinks All Might is going to save the day. Fact hasn't completely slotted into fact yet.

"I'm afraid I wont be able to help any more" he replies, and Chrome's eye widens. "Thanks to my body's injuries, I can only maintain that form for a few hours every day. As of right now, my time limit is over. I wont be able to become All Might again until tomorrow."

Chrome glances towards the street, and Yagi offers her the best smile he can.

"Don't worry. Other heroes will be here soon" he consoles. "If you stay in here, you'll be just fine."

The screaming outside is dimming, but it's being replaced by a faint crying from those who haven't been able to flee. From the expression on her face, the girl he's hiding with can hear them too.

"But the people outside won't be" Chrome all but whispers. "Boss wouldn't hide, not when he could help."

Yagi's not sure he's ever heard of a hero with the name 'Boss,' but he can all but see the resolve settle on the girls shoulders at the thought of him.

"I shouldn't hide when I could stop them."

"Miss Chrome, please don't think like that" Yagi begs. He doesn't know what her quirk is, but she's not even in a hero course, and it could only end badly for her given that she's not in immediate danger. "There are rules regarding quirk use for a reason."

The girl flinches, and her face falls.

"Have to help, but can't draw attention. It's not fair, it was so much easier back there, nobody cared..."

Suddenly, she freezes, and turns to Yagi with frightening intensity.

"You...you're a hero?"

Yagi blinks.

"Um, yes."

"So you could use your quirk, you just can't right now. Because your body is injured."

Yagi really doesn't know why they're repeating this, but he nods anyway. In reply, Chrome bites her lip and glances to the side.

"...If my...quirk could fix that, would that be okay?"

"...Miss Chrome, what are you talking about?" Yagi asks, and Chrome's looks up with a driven expression.

"I'm not sure but, the way my, um, quirk can work, might give you more time. Would that be allowed? If I'm only using it to to support you, so that you can use your legal quirk, that's not against the law, right?"

Technically? Yes, it **was.** Quirk use is still quirk use, no matter the reason. It's just that the effects of support quirks on other people can be veryhard to prove, cases often got thrown out on lack of evidence.

But All Might is the Symbol of Peace. He really can't justify using a legal loophole, even if Chrome's mysterious quirk could somehow buy him a few more minutes.

Yagi's trying to figure out exactly how to explain this to the young woman when she makes the decision for him. She lifts up hand adorned with a large jewelled ring and clenches it into a fist. Yagi spots a strange dark blue aura begin to form around her hand, and then realises it's appearing on his body, forming a strange indigo flame that quickly engulfs his body. He yelps, waving his hands in front of his face to remove it, but it vanishes as soon as it came, and the panic changes to awe as he takes in the wide, muscular arms in front of him.

A very quick scan reveals that he's back in his All Might form, but that's not the craziest thing. For the first time in years, he's not in any pain.

He risks pulling up his shirt, and gasps when the scar from five years ago appears to just be gone.

"What on earth-"

What did she just **do**? No quirk can do this! He should know, he went looking through the medical fields with a fine toothed comb after the incident. No healing quirk can work this thoroughly or quickly. Unless its some kind of time-reversal quirk?

"It's not permanent" Chrome is quick to warn. "I know I shouldn't be using it in the first place but-"

He stops her by placing a large hand on her head.

"Thank you Miss Chrome" he says. "I promise I wont let you get into any trouble for your help."

She blushes and gives him a small smile, and All Might vaults over the wall to finish his job.

Part of him feels very bad about his choice. Legal loopholes are not things the No. 1 Hero should be exploiting. Especially when it involves young, absurdly-powerful quirk users who don't know better. Bad All Might.

But when he punches sound quirk hard enough to send him flying down the street without even a twinge of pain in his stomach, that part of him becomes very hard to hear.

* * *

Ten minutes later, his backup arrives to find all 3 villains knocked out and tied up with the bumper of a ruined car. Given the quirks he'd been up against, he's not surprised to find Eraser Head and Present Mic are the ones who came to his aid, and he's somewhat relieved. If he's going to keep Chrome from facing any punishment, these are the two heroes he needs.

He's helping rescue the last civilians from the rubble and guide them to the nearby ambulance when he hears the loud whistle from down the street.

"Wow Might" Mic compliments. "You were really motivated today."

He toes the bumper with his boot, looking bored with the scene, but All Might can see his sharp eyes taken in the scene, calculating the fight length, and the fact that All Might is still there.

Eraser Head is silent, but there's no doubt he's making the same connections as his friend.

"Question" Present Mic finally asks, once the last civilian is evacuated and they're left in relative privacy. "How are you still, you know-"

His hands splay gesturing to All Might's form, and the man laughs, the volume hopefully covering the nervousness.

"I must admit it's not entirely my success. All of this was thanks to a special young lady."

He turns to the restaurant, where Chrome is stepping out from a ruined door. At the attention of the heroes, she freezes, and starts glancing down the street, hands grasping at her bag.

"...All Might, please tell me you didn't let a civilian used their quirk on you in order to bypass your limit" Eraser head growls, and All Might winces. He keeps forgetting how sharp the young man can be.

Present Mic gapes at the accusation, and stares at the girl in shock.

"Oh Chrome, you didn't."

The girl blushes, and the Voice hero shakes his head.

"I didn't even know your quirk could – wait, what exactly does your quirk do again?" he asks.

"And is it permanent?" Eraser Head adds.

The girl looks down, face bright red.

"I just, substituted a few things. That's all. And it's not, I mean, it could be but...permanent no?"

It's not enough of an explanation for Eraser head, whose frowning at the girl.

"You are aware of the laws regarding quirk use, correct?

She's staring at him, posture stiff and face calm. It's clear she is, but chose not to care. This has Yagi written all over it.

True enough, All Might all but darts to her side, hands up in a placating gesture.

"I take full responsibility for what happened" he insists. "I promised that she wouldn't suffer any repercussions."

Eraser head scowls, and immediately steps forward and activates Erasure. Whatever this girl's quirk does, it's too dangerous to have it activated on an hero without clearance, for both All Might **and** Dokuro Chrome. And he's certainly not going to let her be punished because All Might was a self sacrificing idiot who pushed himself to his limit **again**. If they erase all traces of her quirk before any official report starts, they might be able to brush this all under the rug without her facing any consequences.

The effect is almost instantaneous. All Might deflates back into Yagi, who clutches at his side while his other hand slaps across his mouth to catch the spewing blood. He's glaring daggers at Eraser for the lack of warning, but the expression is wiped from his face as the girl shrieks, falling to the ground the second Erasure hits her. To their horror, her clothes begin to droop inwards, her abdomen caving in.

Eraser Head immediately shuts off his quirk, half stepping back in shock while Yagi knelt next to the girl, pulling her shirt up slightly to assess the damage.

What he sees is chillingly familiar. Numerous scars, and damage from an injury at least a few years old.

This girl is missing organs. Probably even more than Yagi is.

And Eraser Head just took out the one thing keeping her alive.

"Get the medics back here now!" He yells at the frozen heroes standing to the side, before returning his attention to the girl.

"Miss Dokuro!" he yells, shaking her shoulders slightly. "Please, can you reactivate your quirk?"

For a moment, he's worried the shock at losing her quirk has rendered her immobile, but suddenly, there's a pained sigh, and an indigo haze covers her body as her one good eye snaps open.

When she struggles into a sitting position, the shirt slides back down, but Yagi saw scars vanish under perfectly smooth skin, and a dangerously collapsed chest puff out as the dark blue aura vanished.

She glances at the men around her – from the relieved Yagi to the pained Eraser Head to the panicking Present Mic yanking a first responder in her direction, and gives a shaky smile.

"I don't suppose you'd believe it's not as bad as it looks?"

* * *

Despite her best attempts, Chrome's pleading that 'I'm just fine, really' and 'it's not the first time that's happened, I'm used to it,' she'd found herself escorted to hospital for a medical check up regarding accidental quirk backlash. Present Mic had taken the job of calling Yamamoto to let him know where his ward was, and Yagi had found himself getting yelled at by Recovery Girl, who Eraser Head had seen fit to contact.

However, the lecture had been cut short, because Recovery Girl was more interested in the condition of All Might's would-be-supporter than dressing down a man who had made it clear 'it went in one ear and out the other, Toshi!' She'd gone straight for Chrome, making sure the girl was fully recovered from the lack of quirk before insisting on an MRI to see the state of her body.

Yamamoto, then on scene to collect the teen, had been awkwardly reluctant to let her. But given what had happened in the street, Recovery Girl wasn't willing to see it happen again – and unless Chrome and Yamamoto could offer up previous medical records to show everything was stable, Chrome wasn't leaving the hospital without one.

Yagi was a little worried at how easily they'd given in after that, considering how badly injured Chrome had to be.

He suddenly remembers Yamamoto setting down a plate of sushi, explaining Chrome was the one to notice Yagi's restrictions. How the chef had mentioned needing to work around dietary issues before, and when Chrome had brushed her side when they hid.

All Might is a hero, but he dearly wants to find whoever left a child with injuries like that and do something emphatically unheroic. No one should have to go through what he does, especially not a young girl, even if her quirk can help.

The duo have left the hospital now anyway, with the scans showing nothing life threatening. Recovery Girl and the doctors however, have continued to look over the scans, and Yagi feels reluctant to leave without her. It's getting far more convoluted than he'd hope. Eraser Head and Present Mic clearly feel the same, because while Mic needs to go back on patrol, Aizawa isn't technically on the schedule until the evening, and remains the private room. He'd have been sleeping solidly if not for Present Mic calling him every fifteen minutes for an update – and making the two heroes wonder why he even bothered leaving in the first place.

Almost an hour after Chrome left the hospital, Yagi is starting to feel the exhaustion of the day, because his eyes are drooping and he might just manage to crash on this ridiculously uncomfortable excuse for a sofa in the private room, when the door slams open.

"You need to see this" Recovery Girl insists, a laptop hoisted under her arm. At her appearance, Aizawa crawls out from his sleeping back and groans, reaching for his phone.

"Wait a moment" he says, lifting the device to his ear. "Hizashi will be intolerable if I dont-Hizashi not so loud! Can you talk? Good, I'm putting you on videophone."

He immediately turns the phone round, the Voice hero eagerly looking at the screen.

"YO! You find something interesting Recovery Girl?"

Chiyo chuckles.

"That's one way to put it."

Yagi stretches his arms as he stands, watching the elderly woman set the computer on the bed and fire up a program showing MRI photos.

As far as Yagi can tell, there's nothing all that special about them. They look perfectly normal.

Although that's abnormal to say the least, he knows Chrome's body can't possibly look like that.

"I don't see anything" Aizawa says, voicing Yagi's concerns.

Recovery Girl smiles. "Neither did we, then we started looking for quirk-related disturbances. Took us a few tries, but eventually this popped up."

The next image was almost identical to the first, but now several of the organs in the x-ray were glowing.

"These organs?" Recover Girl begins. "They don't exist."

"Huh?" Present Mic says with a frown.

"What do you mean?" Yagi asks, and the woman shakes her head in awe.

"Dokuro's quirk is registered as 'Illusional Construction,' I thought it meant she could create wide scale illusions, but it's a lot more powerful than that. Whatever that strange aura is, she can use it to create a physical copy of...anything!"

She gestures at the screen. "I dearly want to know how she ended up in this condition, and why nobody has been charged with medical neglect, but she's found a way to replicate her missing organs with her quirk. It's so perfect her body doesn't even realise the difference! Do you have any idea what a quirk like that could do with the right training?"

Yagi's eyes widen in astonishment. Construction quirks are highly desired, but they're supposed to have limitations. Young Yaoyorozu has to eat substantial amounts of food in order to create additional lipids, know the chemical build-up, and can't create any organic material. By the sounds of things…

"I never told her what injuries I sustained" he says, still reeling. "But when she used her quirk, she provided or supported everything in a matter of seconds."

"Her quirk can create something out of nothing, and keep it running indefinitely, without needing to know the exact chemical make-up or structural context" Recovery Girl finishes. "Who is this girl? and how has a quirk like this gone unnoticed for so long! Where is she enrolled? It can't be a hero school, the bragging would have reached me by now."

"...Seirin" Present Mic finally offers up, and Recovery Girl frowns.

"Sports?" She certainly didn't seem the type but-

The woman trains off when Aizawa starts shaking his head.

"Basic education?" she says, almost in disbelief. "Are you kidding?"

"A quirk doesn't necessarily define what someone does with their life Chiyo" Yagi warns.

She gives an almost hysterical laugh. "When it's something like this it does" she replies. "Any educator worth their degree would have fast tracked her into a Hero Course, or at least a school with a heavy medical background. I've never seen a quirk with this kind of versatility, and she's not even considering using it? I can't understand it. It shouldn't even be possible to have that mindset in this day and age."

"Well...if it helps, I get the feeling she doesn't like heroes all that much" Present Mic offers, rubbing the back of his neck on the screen. "Takesushi didn't exactly give me a warm welcome when we first met."

Aizawa turns the phone around to frown at his friend.

"I thought you said it was something you did?"

"I thought it was" Mic insists. "But...maybe there was more to the story. They did say where they lived didn't have a strong hero presence."

Yagi gawks. "Where did they live, Antarctica?"

"Yagi, really" Chiyo chides, and the man blushes in embarrassment.

"You need to find out" Recovery Girl says, returning to the matter at hand. "Mic, if you're friendly with her guardian, ask him. This quirk could do so much for the world, if she's not using it because of a negative history with heroes, we need to see if we can't offer some kind of rehabilitation. Possibly find a place for her at UA."

"A mid-year transfer" Aizawa asks, eyes wide. "From a non-hero course? That...those don't happen."

"Oh I'm pretty sure I could talk the principal into making an exception" Recovery Girl replies.

On the phone, Present Mic sighs.

"Fine. I'll test the waters next time I visit. See if Yamamoto can shed some light on it. But honestly, I don't think you'll talk her into it unless you agree to take the others. I've never met a group of teens so close knit."

With that he hangs up, and Aizawa makes a beeline for the door, the two older heroes slowly following.

"Chiyo, I promised her there would be no repercussions" Yagi says one last time. "Whatever her reasons, please don't bring the principal into it if you don't get the answer you want."

The woman frowns at him. "Of course not" she insists. "I just...I need to understand."

She pauses at the door, and smiles at the taller hero.

"Yagi, you of all people should understand that this girl has a quirk that can work literal miracles. If she's not using it, I want to know **why**. That's all."

The man nods in acceptance, and escorts the woman out. If he's brutally honest, it's a question that's been plaguing his mind ever since he felt the indigo flames on his body.

Unfortunately, Yagi's been in this business long enough to know he's probably not going to like the answer. He dearly hopes for Present Mic's sake, and young Chrome and her friends, that there's another option he's missing.

Because powerful quirks are always brought to society's attention, either through school or government drives or even accidental use. The only time powerful quirks go unnoticed to this extent, is when they're intentionally hidden.

And the only people who do that, are villains.


	6. Bakugo

As far as Bakugo Katsuki is concerned, the building underneath the 'Takesushi' sign doesn't look like much. He really doesn't get the appeal.

Unfortunately, the teen at his side doesn't seem undeterred.

"Bakubro, trust me" Kirishima insists, throwing open the door. "This, was worth the trip."

"It better be, Shitty Hair" he replies. "I'm fucking starving."

The redhead strides in the door with a grin, and Bakugo's disdain continues as he follows.

If he's being completely, 100% honest with himself, Bakugo's actually grateful Kirishima offered to bring him to the restaurant. At this point it's started to become something of a legend amongst students, just due to how much their teachers seem to get spotted here. Present Mic all but rents a fucking room at this point, and he's heard a good chunk of the class talk about coming for a group meal in the future. Bakugo wanted to check it out himself – but really didn't want to appear as if he listened to hype. Kirishima having to 'convince' him to go gave him an easy out.

It certainly doesn't look like the kind of place Bakugo would visit on a whim. While the interior isn't exactly old fashioned, it's lacking any real modern features – he probably can't even get Wi-Fi in here, and yet, it's comforting. Like some kind of marketable mix between home comfort and hole-in-the-wall eatery. Also, it's not too busy given that it's the early afternoon – there's only two tables seated, and only one waiter attend...huh.

Bakugo's eyebrows raise when he takes in the teen setting down a plate and grinning at the guests. The only uniform consists of an short apron around his waist, and he's wearing a slightly too-tight shirt announcing PLUS ULTRA! Not that uncommon around the UA neighbourhood, but the waiter is startlingly well built. Those are some impressive muscles under that that shirt – not that Bakugo's out of shape, but this guy could probably give _Deku's_ abs a run for their money.

"Sasagawa!" Kirishima yells out, resulting in the teen looking up, and Bakugo rolls his eyes as the redhead gets bowled over by the waiter, who has at least half a foot on him, hair included.

"Kirishima!" Sasagawa hollers. "It is extremely good to see you!"

"Right back at ya!" Kirishima cheers. "So, this is my buddy I told you about, Bakugo Katsuki. Bakubro, this is Sasagawa Ryohei, future boxing champion, to the extreme!"

"To the extreme?" Bakugo repeats in disbelief, while Sasagawa's grin goes impossibly wide.

"You're Bakugo? Kirishima has told me all about you to the extreme. I hear you're quite the extreme guy."

"I think I'm already 'extremely' annoyed at that verbal tic" Bakugo snaps right back. Sasagawa however, doesn't appear to hear him, slinging an arm around both teen's shoulders. Bakugo has just enough time to bristle before Sasagawa starts pushing them towards a booth, frustratingly strong even if Bakugo's reluctance is mostly for show.

"I'll have Yamamoto make you the special, on the house" he offers. "Kirishima told me about the attack on your class. We should celebrate your survival to the extreme!"

"You don't have to go that far Sasagawa" Kirishima insists. "We can pay-"

"Oi, Shitty Hair, don't go passing up free food" Bakugo snaps, breaking an arm free to punch him in the side. This just makes Sasagawa grin again, escorting them to a booth in the back.

"The two of you are clearly extremely good friends" he says. "You remind me of Takeshi and Octopus Head, always fighting and laughing, to the extreme."

"Who?" Bakugo snaps, taking a seat. Octopus Head? Is that some lame low level hero he doesn't know about that also visits?"

"Ah, you'll see later, for now, relax!" Sasagawa insists. "It'll be a feast to the extreme!"

As he spins on one foot and heads for the kitchen. Bakugo shakes his head in disbelief.

"Did that guy hit his head when he was a baby?" Bakugo asks. "He's nuts."

"No way, Sasagawa's awesome" Kirishima insists. "He might not be a hero, but he's one of the manliest guys I know."

"How the hell did you two meet?" Bakugo mutters and Kirishima grins.

"It was about a month before the entry exam, and I was freaking out, you know? I'd been working out, trying to get myself ready, but I was all over the place. So I thought I'd check out the gyms closer to UA, see if I couldn't spot some older students and steal some tips. I didn't, but I did run into Sasagawa, and wow!"

Kirishima throws his hands up.

"I'd never had a work out like it! It was so...extremely manly! I hurt in places I didn't know you _could_ hurt. He really knows how to push a body to his limits."

His hands drop and run through his hair.

"At the start I even had to use my quirk to stop myself collapsing, but by the exam it was a last resort. To be honest, I'm not even sure I'd have scored as high as I did in the entrance exam if he hadn't been pushing me in the last few weeks."

"That's nonsense to the extreme!" Sasagawa announces as he drops a plate on the table, making Bakugo jerk in surprise. How the hell was someone so loud that quiet?

"You were already an extreme hero Kirishima" he continues. "Don't look down on your accomplishments, to the extreme."

Kirishima's blushing now, stuttering out thank yous and 'no, you're the manliest one!' and Bakugo rolls his eyes, grabbing chopsticks and grabbing a piece of sushi from the dropped plate to ignore the compliment contest happening beside him. He barely notices them taper off as they notice him tuck in, and his face winces as he bites down.

...Oh goddammit. It was _good._

Not that he'd really suspected otherwise. There is now way Aizawa-sensei would be seen here that often if the food wasn't good enough to lure him away from those liquid packets, Present Mic or no Present Mic. And bad hair and questionable fashion choices aside, Kirishima generally has good taste - Bakugo wouldn't tolerate him if he didn't – but it did mean he had to check himself or risk getting kicked out. He learned a long time ago that restaurants generally don't like teens that scream profanities – he can't wait for when he's a hero and nobody will want to call him on it.

Both of them are staring at him though, looking for feedback, and he points his chopsticks at them and glares.

"It's fine okay? You don't need to look so goddamn smitten."

"That's Bakugo for 'I love it, thank you so much'" Kirishima translates, looking up and grinning at Sasagawa. The older teen laughs.

"I extremely thought so. I'm getting fluent in violent-profanity-laden-teen."

Yeah...Bakugo's not even touching that.

"So, you trained this idiot before the exam?" Bakugo asks, stabbing another piece of sushi. "What, you a hero dropout or something."

Sasagawa grins and rubs the back of his head.

"Ah, no, nothing like that. I like fighting, but my sister was afraid I'd get hurt, so I became a boxer, to the extreme."

Bakugo frowns. He could be wrong, but he was pretty sure boxing was one of the most dangerous sports there was. Sasagawa clearly saw his confusion, and continued.

"Street fighting" he explains, while his hand goes to rub the scar on the side of his face. "Lots of older kids wanted to fight me, and Kyoko got scared for me, so I tried to stay out of unofficial fights now. I'm too old for hero school anyway, but boxing is just as much fun."

And given that the guy doesn't seem like a thinker, it's not like he'll lose much with the multiple concussions coming his way, Bakugo snickers to himself.

"Your quirk good for fighting" he asks, giving Sasagawa another eye over, trying to figure out what the teen can do. There's no obvious tells, so it can't be a mutation. If he drew in fights, probably some kind of strength quirk?

Sasagawa however, just gives a non-committal shrug.

"My coach is still debating with officials over that" he admits. "It doesn't really turn off, but it's not a huge advantage compared to most, so they're still arguing over whether I should be competing in the quirk or non-quirk leagues. I say let me fight anyone who wants to meet me in the ring, to the extreme!"

That's...a really weird answer. And very vague. Before he can question it more though, Kirishima's already changing the subject.

"Even if he wasn't training to be a hero, his work outs are really useful" Kirishima insists. "It's all about pushing your body to it's limits and beyond. Extreme Plus Ultra."

Sasagawa nods sagely. "Kirishima was an excellent student. I would have asked him to join my boxing club if I was still at school."

"Hey, speaking of, think you can fit in some more training time soon?" Kirishima asks. "The sports tournament is coming up. I could use the extra workout."

"I'd be honoured to train with you, to the extreme!" Sasagawa yells. "I've even found some excellent new training grounds with Tsuna's help, but he extremely won't train with me. Says he doesn't see the point in 'killing himself for no good reason,' to the extreme.

"Excellent!" Kirishima replies. "Consider me your new training buddy. Whatever you need!"

"Perfect!" Sasagawa says. "My new regime will have you at the front of the class in no time, to the extreme!"

Bakugo slams a hand on the table, although he's grinning as he adds-

"Oi, you'll still have to get past me, Shitty Hair" he warns. "Scarface is going to have to put you through the _ringer_ if you're going to have a hope of taking my spot."

Kirishima grins back in challenge, and Sasagawa starts positively _beaming._

"Youthful competition is so extreme!" he says. "I shall do my best to help Kirishima in his quest."

"Put me through everything you ever did" Kirishima adds. "No exceptions."

At that, Sasagawa's smile fades.

"Ah, that might be difficult. I haven't been able to get bears" Sasagawa admits.

Both students pause.

"...Bears?"

Sasagawa nods. "They're very extreme. Reborn used to drop them on Tsuna for training. And they're a lot better at arcade games than you'd think."

Just. What?

Bakugo's pretty sure he felt his IQ drop at that statement. Unfortunately, Kirishima's clearly a lost cause, because he's looking at Sasagawa as if he just announced the meaning of life.

"To be honest, I should probably put you through some of Tsuna's training" Sasagawa continues. "He's the most extreme guy I know."

"Oh yeah, I still can't believe I haven't met him" Kirishima adds. "You talk about him and your other brothers so much. Did he really train by climbing cliffs?"

"Climbing cliffs?" Bakugo repeats. "That's not really-"

"Barehanded" Kirishima amends. "With no equipment and unable to use his quirk."

Bakugo gawks.

"Yosh, it's true" Sasagawa replies. "Reborn was an extreme teacher. Must like Master PaoPao, and Colonello. "Thanks to all his training, Tsuna has become an extreme opponent. Even Hibari loved to fight him, to the extreme."

"Who the fuck are any of those people?" Bakugo snaps, and Sasagawa blinks, staring at him in confusion, before bursting into laughter.

"I apologise to the extreme!" he says, once he's recovered. "It was the most extreme time of my life, but one shouldn't live in the past, to the extreme."

His head cocks to the side, glancing away from the table, before turning to look at them apologetically.

"Ah, I have to get back to work. Please enjoy the rest of the sushi. I'll bring you another plate in a few minutes."

He gives a short bow, and heads over to another occupied table, who all grin at his exuberant attitude. Bakugo watches him leave, before turning to stare at Kirishima with something akin to horror.

" _That_ , is not human" he states. "That is a shaved monkey raised on a drip feed of energy drinks and comic book speech bubbles."

"Hey, he's not that bad" Kirishima insists. "He's just very happy about who he is."

"Who he is, is insane" Bakugo snaps.

Kirishima grins. "Okay, that's probably true. Part of me wants to introduce him to Midoriya, but I'm kind of scared they'd kill each other in the worlds most terrifying work out session."

"Even Deku's not stupid enough to climb cliffs and fight bears!" Bakugo snarls – although there's a little voice in his head running commentary that the green idiot _totally_ would if someone gave him the idea.

Kirishima just gestures towards the waiter and his obvious physique.

"Hey, you know what they say. If it's stupid and it works..."

Bakugo growls, but gets distracted when the door to the restaurant opens, revealing two teens, one gesturing wildly and speaking a mile a minute.

"-ince I got out of school. Anything could have happened to him!"

"Mah, mah, calm down Dera" his companion replies, as the two of them make their way over to the private area by the kitchen. "I'm sure Tsuna's fine."

"Takeshi! Octopus Head!" Sasagawa yells in greeting, plates in hand. "Welcome home!"

The taller one waves, while the frantic one gives an absent nod before continuing with their conversation. Despite himself, Bakugo leans forward to keep eavesdropping. Judging from the way Kirishima is inching out of his seat, he's no the only one interested.

"He was supposed to meet up with Kyoko and Fuuta almost an hour ago!" 'Dera' snaps back, stopping by the door "He'd never leave her waiting that long, and he's not answering his phone. Something clearly happened, Baseball-Idiot."

"It'll just be the sports clubs trying to pressure him again" Takeshi replies. "Which, yeah, isn't great. But he can handle it."

"You can't know that" Dera growls. "It could be a ruse."

The other teen sighs, while Dera starts to pale.

"What if they figured it out? What if they figured out a way to take us back-"

"Hayato," Takeshi snaps, with more authority than Bakugo thought the mellow looking teen could possible have. "Tsuna. is. Fine."

"-But."

"There's no way they could take him by surprise. We would see the fight, you know th-"

The kitchen door slams open, and the chef is glaring at the two of them.

"Takeshi, Gokudera. Please, have _this_ particular conversation a little louder, and slightly _more_ public, would you?"

Takeshi blushes, and Gokudera drops his head.

"Ah, sorry, Dad" Takeshi offers, and the chef's glare softens.

"And for your information, Tsuna called fifteen minutes ago from a friend's mobile. There were issues with his phone and he got turned around avoiding some of the team managers again, but he's free now and heading over to the cafe to meet Kyoko, so stop panicking."

Gokudera all but melts, half falling into Takeshi in relief, while the taller teen laughs at the sight. In the kitchen, the phone starts ringing, and the chef smiles before heading to answer it.

Crisis over, Bakugo leans back and glances at Kirishima.

"Do you know that double act?" he asks, though Sasagawa's earlier comment is running through his head and making him bristle. He is nowhere near as dramatic as that silver haired moron.

"Not personally" Kirishima tells him, eyes flickering between Bakugo and the two new teens who headed into the kitchen for aprons. "But Sasagawa's told me enough about his family to guess. The tall one's Yamamoto Takeshi – he's Tsuyoshi's, the chefs, actual son. And the other one is Gokudera Hayato. Supposedly he's pretty smart, but he's got a temper problem.

"Mah, mah, someone's talking about us?"

Bakugo barely chokes down the squawk of surprise when Yamamoto Takeshi pops out of fucking _nowhere_ to lean on the booth. What the hell is with these waiters and their stealth skills?

Kirishima, the goddamn traitor, doesn't seem phased at all.

"Hi there" he greets, giving the teen a quick wave. "I'm Kirishima Eijiro, Sasagawa's extreme student."

Yamamoto's eyes light up.

"Oh, right. I remember him talking about you. He was so sad he couldn't talk you into a boxing career."

"That idiot still keeps telling us to join the one at Seirin" Gokudera mutters, walking past the table with a tray.

"He's really gung ho about his boxing" Kirishima agrees. "It's too bad he didn't want to be a hero. With his passion and commitment, he could have been amaz-"

"She's WHAT?"

The entire restaurant slides to a standstill as Tsuyoshi's voice echoes through the building, every head snapping to attention to watch him. Bakugo can just about see him over the bar, clenching the phone in his hand so tight Bakugo's almost surprised it hasn't cracked.

"No, no...I understand" he continues, though his grip doesn't loosen. "I'll be there right away."

He drops the call with shaky hands, and turns to the dining area, as if just remembering they exist, walking on shaky legs out of the kitchen to his guests.

"Sorry, but we need to close early for a family emergency" Tsuyoshi explains to the three tables. "You can have your earlier orders on the house."

"Yamamoto, is something wrong to the extreme?" Sasagawa asks, and Tsuyoshi nods as he heads to their table.

"It's Chrome. She's been taken to hospital. Apparently her...quirk, stopped working earlier."

Bakugo frowns as all three of the teens working at the restaurant go pale, Sasagawa's eyes going almost impossibly wide.

"What! But that's extremely impossible!"

"What happened!" the Gokudera yelps.

"I don't know" Tsuyoshi replied. "But right now I need you to close the restaurant. Takeshi, you're in charge."

The black haired one nods, and the chef starts ushering the other two tables out, offering apologies all the way, before heading out the door himself. The customers seem pleasant enough about it though, even offering their own platitudes about hoping 'Chrome' isn't in any danger.

Gokudera immediately takes out his phone, typing furiously into the search function, while Takeshi glances at the table with the UA teens and smiles.

"Given that you're Sasagawa's friends, you can stay a little longer" he offers. "Sorry we can't give you the full meal Sasagawa promised."

Sasagawa smiles.

"I promise next time you come with be a lot more extreme" he offers, sliding into the booth next to Kirishima, who just waves his hand in the air.

"Hey, s'cool. Maybe I can bring some more of my classmates next time. What do you think Bakubro?"

Bakugo growls, but grabs the last piece of sushi on the plate.

"It's free right? Why not?"

His friend grins.

"That's Bakugo for, 'I'd love to! Takesushi is awesome!'"

"It is not!" Bakugo growls. "Stop putting words in my mouth, Shitty Hair!"

Yamamoto laughs, and digs an elbow in the pouting silver haired teen by his side.

"Hey, I'm getting deja vu" he says. "Remind you of anything Hayato?"

The other teen scowls, looking up from his phone just long enough to glare at his friend.

"Even you were never that chipper" he snaps.

"But you were definitely that short tempered" Yamamoto replies right back.

"Can we focus please?" Gokudera growls. "Tsuna's been on the run all afternoon and Chrome's down. I looks like there was a villain attack not far from the shopping centre she mentioned she was going to. Aren't you worried at all?"

"Nope" Yamamoto replies. "It'll all work out."

This apparently isn't the answer the teen wants to hear, because his face goes through a multitude of emotions – the same collection Bakugo often goes through when Deku is being particularly 'Deku' - and reaches for something in his jacket. Yamamoto however, grabs the wrist before it can make contact.

"Uh uh" he warns, though he's still smiling. Gokudera however, pulls away and continues reaching, digging out a cigarette.

"Relax would you?" he snaps. "I don't bring bombs into the restaurant."

Bakugo freezes.

Bombs?

Kirishima looks confused, but by his side, Sasagawa raises his eyebrows.

"Um-"

"Any more!" Gokudera howls. "Would you just drop it?"

"Sorry, sorry" Yamamoto replies. "Just...remembering the teething problems. And Dad'll get mad if you blow up anything again."

"I haven't thrown an explosive in weeks, Baseball-idiot!"

Bakugo's eyes narrow.

Explosives?

"Only because Tsuna's been watching you" Takeshi teases. "You're a getting a reputation. Again."

Gokudera throws up his hands, and Bakugo watches him.

Pale Haired. And definitely _looks_ at least a little bit foreign...

"It's. Not. Illegal!" Gokudera insists, oblivious to the time bomb generating in the booth. "It's one of my favourite things about this place. Explosives in self defence are perfectly acceptable, so fuck you and your self righteous wooden bat right in the-"

"It's you!"

All conversation grinds to a halt as Bakugo slams his hands on the table, glaring at Gokudera.

"You bastard!" he howls. "You're my copycat?"

"Hah?" Gokudera mutters, eyes scanning Bakugo and not making the connection. "Whose a copycat?"

"Oh boy..." Kirishima mutters, inching further back into the booth. "This isn't going to end well."

Bakugo ignores him, all but jumping out of the booth to glare in Gokudera's face. He's the taller of the two, so he takes immense satisfaction on looking down on the asshole that nearly ruined his perfect record.

"You are" he growls. "The damn cops came to UA after you blew up the neighbourhood and blamed me! I could have been suspended because of you!"

He'd thought about this moment for weeks. What he'd do when the culprit finally showed himself. Bakugo had been learning tact and empathy, so if his copycat acted correctly – submissive and apologetic for causing damage to Bakugo's reputation, maybe he could let it go.

However- Gokudera's only reaction to Bakugo's announcement was the slight raising on his eyebrows.

"Oh, right. That hero came in complaining with the cop" he says. "Law enforcement are real idiots in this country – you don't look anything like me, and I wasn't exactly subtle."

Yamamoto laughs. "True. That has _never_ been a trait in your skill set."

Bakugo's palms are starting to smoke.

"Don't you have anything to say to me?"

Gokudera frowns, and cocks his head, taking in the blonde in front of him.

"...You're welcome?" he offers. "You should be grateful your quirk was associated with my bombs. I'm no slouch."

"Oh god" Kirishima moans, thudding his head on the table, while Bakugo, rather predictably, explodes.

"GRATEFUL?" he roars, punching a fist into his hand to cause an explosion. "I WANT A FUCKING APOLOGY YOU LITTLE SHIT! You're just a damn extra who should know his place!?

Gokudera watches the explosion with care, and his eyes narrow at the screaming.

"Know my place huh?" he growls. "Heard that one before. And from much, much scarier than a self-absorbed Pomeranian that hasn't been toilet trained yet."

Bakugo snarls and lunges for the Copycat.

Screw tact, this extra is going out the door on the nitroglycerin express.

But before he could make contact, his opponent was yanked out of the way, and Bakugo has just enough time to draw back before he feels a vice-like grip slam over his neck, pinning him to a muscled chest.

"What the fuck-"

"NO FIGHTING IN THE RESTAURANT TO THE EXTREME!" Sasagawa yells to the two teens currently bound in ridiculously tight headlocks. "Yamamoto's rules are absolute, to the extreme!"

Sasagawa then starts dragging them towards the front door. Bakugo even tries a small explosion on the teens side to loosen the grip, but the boxer acts like he didn't even feel it.

"Hey! Let me go you fucker!" he howls.

"Competitive rivalry is good, to the extreme, but not indoors" Sasagawa insists, ignoring the squawks on both sides. "Take it outside, Octopus head."

"Turf-Top, let go of me right now or I swear to god-"

On the opposite side of Bakugo, Gokudera is twisting around like a wet cat, but the boxer barely even flinches, kicking the front door open, and throwing them both out the door.

"Come back when you have settled your differences like men, to the extreme!" he insists, slamming the door shut. Moments later, they hear the tell tale sound of a door being locked.

"Damn asshole" the Copycat growls, getting to his feet. Bakugo immediately scrambles up to face him, and glares back at him.

"What the fuck is his quirk, invulnerability?" he snaps, and Gokudera huffs.

"Not exactly. I think he's just too dumb to feel pain."

In any other situation, Bakugo would have grinned at the jab. But all it does is remind him of who he's really pissed at.

"Hey, we going to settle this or what?" he snaps, and Gokudera glares right back, before dropping his shoulders.

"Oh why the fuck not?" he snaps. "I could use a guilt-free target right about now. Follow me."

* * *

He follows the Copycat out of the street and down an alley Bakugo didn't even know existed, coming out on a quieter street. A few minutes later, they come across a wooden building in disrepair, but surrounded by a vibrant green lawn. Considering how busy this part of town is, Bakugo's astounded it hasn't been knocked down yet.

"Yamamoto leased this place last month" Gokudera explains when Bakugo voices the thought. "Had sentimental value to the owner and he couldn't bring himself to knock it down. When he learned Yamamoto was looking to rent out a dojo, he promised a good rate so long as he brought it back up to code."

He stops on the grass and smirks at his opponent.

"Haven't had time to start rebuilding, but we really just need an open field, right?"

Bakugo grins with vicious glee.

"Fucking right. You're going to submit and cower like the low level trash you are."

To his frustration, the copycat just laughed.

"God, it's like someone gave Xanxus a bad bleach job," he mocks. "And dropped his killing intent by about 1000."

"Stop fucking mocking me!" Bakugo howls. "You're the bad guy in this! Stop acting like you're so high and goddamn mighty!"

"Hah. Sorry to break it to you, but neither of us is exactly the good guy here" Gokudera snaps, hand gesturing between Bakugo and himself. "I'm barely passable as a civilian on a good day, and you? You want to be a hero, but you're blaming **me** for the police making an assumption. If anyone should be taking the higher ground, it's you."

He grins. It's not a pretty expression.

"Let me guess. Anger and violence is the only way you know how to express yourself" Gokudera offers. "Even when you know you shouldn't, which only makes you madder."

"You don't know anything about me!" Bakugo snaps.

"Maybe, but I can make a few educated guesses" Gokudera snaps back. "You _reek_ of over compensation. Let me guess, went from a big fish in a small pond to a guppy in the fucking ocean and you don't know how to handle it."

"At least I'm _in_ the fucking ocean" Bakugo growls. "I'm a hero student. Best of the best. You're just a delinquent nobody who never even tried."

Gokudera starts reaching into his jacket.

"So it'll be pretty bad if the 'best of the best' gets creamed by a nobody huh?" he asks. "Challenge accepted asshole."

Bakugo howls.

"DIE!"

* * *

Half an hour later, Bakugo's gasping for breath, lying spread eagled on the ground, utterly exhausted and palms dry. The only saving grace is that his opponent is on the ground too.

"Damn it, guess you're not all talk" Copycat mutters. "I've really let myself go, but that was more effort than I expected."

"Back at ya" Bakugo admits. "Where the fuck do you _keep_ all those bombs?"

"Trade secret" Copycat quickly replies, pushing himself to his feet. "God, but I needed that. The Baseball-Idiot's right, I really need to stop stressing myself out."

He wanders over and holds out a hand.

"Thanks for the stress relief, you crazy Pomeranian."

Bakugo tries to scowl, but the edges of his mouth keep twitching upwards as he reaches for the hand.

"Anytime, Copycat."

Fuck it. If he must have a doppelgänger, at least the guy can put his money where his mouth is. Sure, if Bakugo could have fully utilised his quirk it would have been over a lot sooner, but damn if Copycat can't hold his own. Bakugo can respect that. Suddenly being mistaken for this guy in a fight doesn't seem like such a trial.

Plus, he has a feeling Gokudera was somewhat handicapped too. He might have enough explosives on him to make a terrorist cell weep, but throughout the fight he kept reaching for his belt, only for his hand to twitch and fall back. As if instinctively reaching for something only to remember he wasn't wearing it.

Part of him wants to ask about it, right up until he spots the police car screeching to a halt on the street just outside the lawn, and suddenly becomes acutely aware of the smoke in the air and the holes in the ground.

Ohhh crap.

An officer gets out of the car, taking in the potholes in the grass and frowning.

"There were reports of noise disturbance coming from this property. What seems to be the-oh, _you."_

The officer is already scowling at Bakugo's former opponent, who returns the expression with a smirk.

"Howdy Obunaga" Copycat quips. "Have you lost weight?"

"That's Officer Obunaga, Gokudera" Obunaga snaps. "Do you want a career of nothing but community service? What have you been told about explosions?"

At that, the Copycat glances over, and Bakugo feels a chill go down his spine. While he'd never used an explosion worse than anything he'd set on Deku pre-UA in the fight, it was still quirk use.

Shit. He's gotten so used to being allowed to train his quirk that he'd forgotten this wasn't UA grounds – Gokudera fights with the talent of a UA student, not some random bum, and his quirk compensated appropriately. There are explosions everywhere – and after Copycats previous actions the precincts know what his quirk is. Two words and Bakugo is screwed – all Gokudera has to utter is the phrase 'Self defence.'

Yet, when Gokudera's eyes slide back, his mouth stays firmly closed, and he gives a lazy shrug.

"We're landscaping," he offers, and Obunaga stares at the two teens, covered in burns and torn clothing, and starts pulling at his hair.

"Where's Sawada?" he moans. "Doesn't he usually keep you from doing shit like this?"

That just gets him another shrug. "Hey, this is technically private grounds so, again, not really illegal. Yamamoto wants to plant some trees so we saved him some time."

Obunaga releases his scalp to glare at him.

"You really think that's going to work? I'm writing you up."

Gokudera smirks.

"Fantastic. Hey, if I get two more, the next one's free, right?"

Bakugo chokes down the laugh as the officer mutters something Gokudera's way and shoves a piece of paper in the teen's face before storming off. Bakugo waits until the man is a safe difference away, and then walks over.

"Why didn't you report my quirk use?" Bakugo asks, partly in suspicion. "You could have screwed me over."

The Copycat snorts.

"I wasn't raised to spill my opponents secrets so easily" he replies. "And I kind of pushed you into it. Tsuna would get get upset if I messed up your dreams just because I needed an outlet."

"Whose the fuck is this Tsuna?" Bakugo asks. "That the Sawada guy that officer asshole was going on about? You and Scarface talk about him like he's your fucking Boss-"

He immediately jerks back as the Copycat swings round and looms into his personal space, the glare on his face far more lethal than anything he'd worn during the fight.

"I'm gonna say this just once Jackass" he growls. "You don't talk shit about Tsuna. I get that you have a mouth that can give me competition, but one insult and you'll be pulling dynamite out of your ass till you _retire_."

Bakugo rolls his eyes, but as Gokudera starts stumbling away and back towards the restaurant, he tags along.

"I wasn't fucking _insulting_ him" he mutters. "It's...look, he's an idiot but clearly Scarface knows how to fight. And you're obviously no slouch, so who is this Tsuna to have both of you so loyal."

Gokudera's mouth twitches its way into a grin.

"Heh, trust me, if Tsuna wanted to, he could take all of us in a fight" he replies. "He'd hate every minute of it, but in a no holds barred beat down, Sawada Tsunayoshi is the strongest opponent you'll ever face."

Bakugo grins back.

"Sounds impressive. I can understand that."

"Oh you really don't" Gokudera laughs. "Because even if he was the weakest guy on the planet I'd still stay by his side."

"Wait, what?" Bakugo snaps, grin vanishing. "That doesn't make any sense."

"It does when you realise strength isn't all that important in the grand scheme of things" Gokudera replies. "Yeah, it gets you stuff, and maybe it can help save people, but it's nothing compared to the things that really matter."

One of Gokudera's bombs must have hit closer to Bakugo's head than he thought, because he is not getting this, at all. Gokudera must see it on his face, because he scowls and sighs.

"Fine, let me dumb it down for you" he snaps. "You want to be a hero because you want to be the best right? You're definitely not the type who got into it because he wants to spend his life serving others."

Bakugo huffs, but doesn't reply. They both already know the answer.

Gokudera grins. "Not that there's anything wrong with that. You're clearly someone who likes being the strongest asshole in the room. Met more than my fair share, but me? I don't care about that. I'm a follower."

"A...follower?" Bakugo asks. "Like, a sidekick or some shit?"

"If you keep going by the hero analogy, sure. I'm a lifelong sidekick" Gokudera agrees. "Some people are made to lead. And some people just want to support the leaders. I'm the latter – I found the guy I want to support. Whatever he chooses to do, I'm going to be right by his side helping him achieve it.

I can be strong" Gokudera continues. "And I'm used to being the smartest guy in the room. But I can't...care, the way he can. I can't see the beauty in the smaller things. Appreciate what I have rather than what I could get. It probably sounds stupid to you, but before I met Tsuna, I didn't realise just how much of my life I was missing by valuing strength and duty over everything else."

He's right, Bakugo thinks. It does sound stupid.

"What a waste of a life."

Gokudera bursts into laughter. "Yeah, a moron like you would see it that way."

He shakes his head.

"Look. I _tried_ the whole lone wolf thing. And you know what? It fucking _sucked_. Tsuna saved my life, in more ways than one, no matter how much he denies it, and being by his side is everything I needed."

He smiles at him, challenge in his eyes.

"Don't get me wrong, I've still got dreams. Things I'm going to do to make my mark on the world. I'm just not intending on ending up alone on a podium as an untouchable figurehead any more than Tsuna is. Between me, the Baseball-Idiot, Turf-top, the girls and Fuuta? We're gonna succeed together or not at all."

It's such a strange concept to Bakugo. He's been reaching for the top for as long as he knew such a thing existed. The idea that success could be something achieved by a group rather than someone alone is...alien. How someone as strong as Gokudera – someone who probably could achieve his dreams solo – would choose not to, doesn't compute to him.

When they make it back to the street, Bakugo sends Kirishima a text, and the other teen walks out the door just as they reach the building.

"So, how'd it go, Bakubro?" Kirishima asks.

Bakugo smirks.

"How do you think?"

The door opens and the younger Yamamoto pokes his head out.

"Hey Hayato, you finish destroying your doppelgänger?"

Bakugo squawks, and Kirishima's face falls.

"Wha-HE'S THE DOPPELGÄNGER!"

"Why, Yamamoto? They only _just_ calmed down!"

Yamamoto just grins, and glances at the now glowering Gokudera.

"By the way, Tsuna's back and upstairs," he tells him.

Bakugo has just enough time to see Gokudera's eyes widen before the teen is flying in the door, hollering, "thanksforthefightandsorryaboutthemixupI'llmakesureitdoesn'thappenagain."

"What the fuck?" Bakugo mutters, ire deflating. "He couldn't have just _opened with that!"_

"Nope" Yamamoto tells him with a grin. "That would have been far too easy. Have a good night!"

Bakugo stares in disbelief as the door closes, and turns to Kirishima.

"You have the dumbest taste in food. And friends" he tells him.

"Oh admit it, you had fun" Kirishima teases. "And we've got another free meal on the table."

Which, yeah, would totally be worth showing up again for, Bakugo admits, as the two of them start walking down the street.

"Maybe next time, we'll finally catch sight of the infamous 'Tsuna'" Bakugo mutters. "I kind of want to meet a guy who can run herd on Copycat and Scarface."

"At this point he seems almost too good to be true" Kirishima admits. "But then I guess some guy's are just manly enough to earn loyalty like that."

"Yeah but still, he's got to be-"

Bakugo stops, and stares at Kirishima, who frowns.

"Bakubro?"

' _Some people are made to lead. And some people just want to support the leaders.'_

Gokudera's words echo through his head, and Bakugo's eyes widen.

"Eh, what is it Bakubro?"

" _I'm the latter – I found the guy I want to support."_

Bakugo feels his cheeks flush, and his temper snaps.

"You're a fucking idiot, you know that!" he yells, and storms off down the street.

"Wha-I didn't even do anything!" Kirishima yells back, quickly giving chase.

"That's the fucking point!" Bakugo hollers, refusing to turn back.

His face is red enough as is.

* * *

 _Minor note, since people kept asking - HIbari, Mukuro, Lambo and Haru didn't come with the rest of the the Vongola. HIbari chose Namimori, Mukuro chose world domination (now so much easier with Tsuna and Chrome out of the firing line), Lambo stayed with Nana, and Haru still had a loving family and would have found it the easiest to escape mafia life._


	7. Izuku

_Don't even ask what I was thinking with this. One day Izuku and Tsuna will have a light, fluffy, 'oh-we-have-so-much-in-common-lets-be-best-friends' conversation. But today is not that day. Today they will be realising that they are very similar people with VERY different views on life and the world._

 _Also, additional note: There is no harmonisation fanon in this fanfic. While Tsuna and his Guardians are close, there is no mental/flame bond._

* * *

Even though it's been a few months now, Izuku still can't believe that he has friends. People other than Kaachan who acknowledge his existence. In non-explosive ways even!

Like today – he'd mentioned to Iida and Uraraka that he was planning to head into town after class to check out the newest hero action figure line, and Iida had volunteered to come with him. Willingly! And Uraraka had only declined because she and the other girls in the class had already made plans.

Izuku doesn't even care if the figures are any good at this point. Just walking into the shopping square with Iida at his side, explaining how his brother's figure is included in this new wave, is genuinely delightful.

"The last figurine was an utter disaster" Iida explains with his typical enthusiasm. "The helmet had two fins on each side, and all of the engine components were silver, not bronze. I can't believe the quality control for Iidaten could be so sloppy."

"I remember that one" Izuku admits. "I thought it was a preview of a costume Ingenium was planning to debut. There was even a rush to buy them when the mistake was made clear and they started being removed from shelves. They go for hundreds online now – I wish I'd bought one when I had the chance."

He winces when his brain catches up with his mouth, and starts talking even faster.

"Not that I believe in supporting spiking prices so that only the rich can afford them or not respecting Ingenium's real costume! It was just a big moment in collectorhistoryanditwouldhavebeenawesometobepartofit-"

Wait-

Iida's already smiling and getting ready to cut Izuku off when the teen stops himself, staring ahead with an odd look on his face.

"Midoriya, why did you-"

He trails off when he sees what caught the shorter teen's eye, and frowns at the sight.

There's a boy about their age crouched behind one of the several raised plant gardens in the street. His hands are clenched in fluffy brown hair, and he has a look of absolute panic on his face. Izuku – well familiar with that kind of expression from years of Kaachan – immediately starts looking for the source.

At first, it's not obvious, but he finally spots a group of teens wearing the same black uniform on the other side of the street, spread out and clearly searching for someone. All but two are built like athletes, either through mutation or obvious training, and they're looking frustrated.

Izuku inches closer – the area is small enough that their voices carry further than they probably expect.

"-keep doing that!" says one with springs in his legs.

"Because he can sense us dumbass" replies another with brown hair. "You know Sawada's nearly impossible to get the drop on, this was a stupid idea from the start."

"Well I'm missing practice for this so somebody figure out where he went or I'm calling it quits" warns another.

"Oh come on! You know how lucky we were to get him minus Yamamoto and the apprentice psycho?" The biggest boy replies. "We're not getting this chance again – Mitsukatta, you got anything?"

"I'm telling you he's here somewhere!" the last boy – the smallest and least built of the group – snaps. "We were practically on top of him before my quirk gave out. There's no way he slipped past us."

Izuku frowns and glances back as the boy behind the small wall groans and tries to sink into the brick. It doesn't take much consideration for him to walk over, careful not to draw attention to the group on the other side.

"Are you the one they're looking for?" He half whispers, and the teen – Sawada apparently – jerks his head up in surprise.

"Hiiee!"

Izuku immediately jerks back, hands up, and Sawada's face falls.

"Please don't tell them I'm here" he begs, and Iida is quick to join Izuku's side.

"Are your classmates attempting to bully you?" he asks, and frowns when the teen gives out a hysterical laugh.

"Bullying? I wish" the teen half cackles. " That I know how to handle. This is completely new."

Both Iida and Izuku cock their heads in confusion.

"...new?"

In reply, the teen throws out his hands, a look of utter disbelief on his face.

"I'm...popular!" he whines. "And I don't know how to make it go away!"

His body immediately tenses, and he inches along the side of the wall as the voices start to get louder.

"I'll check the other side. See if Baunsu can find somewhere to jump and spot him."

The teen – Sawada apparently – gives out a whine and tries to curl up into a ball.

"It's no use. Hiiee, of all days for Hayato to get detention..."

As he watches the group wander closer, it doesn't take much for Izuku to make up is mind. He might not fully understand what's happening, but it's clear Sawada's in distress, heavily outnumbered, and needs help. Sawada looks about his size, so-

"Here, take my jacket" he says, already shifting off the garment, while Sawada stares.

"Hiiee?"

"Eh, Midoriya, what are you doing?" Iida squawks, hands moving wildly. "You can't just give your uniform to non-UA students. It's highly inap-"

"They're looking for someone in a black uniform right?" Izuku offers up. "So, if he takes mine and stuffs his into a bag, we're just three UA students slipping through."

Sawada blinks in confusion, but takes the offered jacket without a word, pulling his own off and shoving it into his book bag without complaint. Iida frowns, but when he spots one of the boys heading for their location, he sighs, quickly moving behind the shorter Sawada when he rises.

"Head for the exit on our left" he says. "I'll try to block their view. Even with the jacket, your hair is quite...striking."

"This is-I can't thank you enough" Sawada splutters in genuine gratitude.

"It's nothing" Izuku insists with a smile. "You should always help someone in need."

* * *

Several minutes later, when it becomes clear that their pursuers haven't followed, Sawada all but drops in relief.

"Mah...I'd been trying to dodge them for almost an hour" he moans. "I was supposed to meet Kyoko and Fuuta already. They're going to be so worried."

Suddenly, his eyes widen in horror.

"Hiiee! You saved me and I don't even know your names!"

He immediately falls into a bow.

"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, but everyone just calls me Tsuna. Thanks so much for getting me out of there."

The two immediately bow back.

"It was nothing, really" Izuku insists. "I'm Midoriya Izuku."

"And I'm Iida Tenya" Iida continues. "So, why were those five after you?"

Tsuna's shoulders sag, and he starts taking off the jacket he borrowed from Izuku.

"They were all captains or managers of some of the sport clubs at my school" he explains, and Iida gasps.

"Ah! I knew I recognised that uniform. They were all in such good shape but they clearly weren't from a hero school – Seirin's got a reputation for solid sport teams. A few of my cousins attended."

Tsuna is staring at both of them with far more suspicion now, but after a few moments, he continues.

"...Right. Well, they all kind of want to recruit me" he explains. "And they're all pretty headstrong – get the feeling no one's ever told them no before – and keep coming after me. I'm normally better at shaking them, but Mitsukatta got his hands on my phone this afternoon. He's best friends with the manager of the baseball team, and his quirk lets him plant an invisible tracker on any electrical item, so he and the others always knew where I'd be. It only wears off when the battery dies...but the more he uses his quirk, the faster the tracker drains the battery. My phone became a brick just before I met you."

He pulls out the device and frowns.

"I was so focused on getting out of there I didn't even think to call anyone. I hope Hayato's still in school or he'll be having a breakdown right now."

Izuku's already pulling out his own phone.

"Do you need to call someone?" he asks, holding it out.

"Oh, I couldn't!" Tsuna insists, waving his hands. "You've already helped me out so-"

It's kind of endearing, just how much Tsunayoshi doesn't want to bother them. Izuku just ignores him and presses the phone into his hand with a smile. Tsuna keeps that torn look on his face for a few moments before pulling his hand away and punching in a number.

"Thank you. I'll promise I'll be quick."

He turns away slightly, holding the phone to his ear. Whoever he's calling must have been close to the phone, because he picks up within two rings.

"Yamamoto, it's Tsuna. Yeah, I know – can you call her and tell her I'm sorry? I'll be there soon. Uh huh, it was the sports teams again. No. No, it wasn't that bad. They just got excited because Hayato wasn't with me. I'm fine. Can you let him and Takeshi know when they get back? My phone's completely dead. You're amazing, Yamamoto, thank you."

He hangs up and offers back the phone with a smile.

"Thanks again. Some of my family can get paranoid. That'll really help out."

"No problem" Izuki replies. "Where are you heading?"

Tsuna glances around with a frown.

"The Classima Cake Store?" he half says, half questions. "I think it's nearby, but I've been running around so much I'm a little turned around."

"Ah, wasn't Uraraka and the other's also visiting that store?" Iida offers. "There's some kind of deal they wanted to take part in. It's not far from here, we can escort you in case your pursuers reappear."

Tsuna opens his mouth, hesitates, then closes it with a smile.

"Something tells me that if I tell you that's not necessary, you'll still insist on it" he says. "So sure, that would be great. But you'll have to let me find some way to make it up to you."

"Absolutely unnecessary" Iida insists, as they start walking down the street. "As heroes-in-training, it is our duty to help any and all civilians, no matter how trivial the issue."

"Heroes?" Tsuna repeats. "Oh, right, that's the UA uniform. You're in the hero classes?"

He laughs. "Tell me, is Present Mic as enthusiastic in class as he is off duty?"

"Eh, you know Present Mic?" Midoriya asks. He didn't look the type to be a fan of the Voice Hero, but-

"He comes to our restaurant a lot" Tsuna explains. "Yamamoto's about ready to put a sign on his favourite chair. My, um, guardian, runs Takesushi?"

"The sushi restaurant?" Iida asks. "I've heard good things."

"Yamamoto's sushi is the best" Tsuna insists. "And if you visit, I'll see if he can't give you a discount as thanks. I promise it's worth it!"

The teen is beaming, clearly proud of his guardian's career, and Izuku finds himself smiling back – it's a rather infectious grin.

"I guess I'll have to come check it out" he promises, before his mind goes back to the earlier topic.

"But, I'm still a little confused why you were hiding. You said they were recruiting, not bullying, but..."

Tsuna sighs. "It's not. At least, not bullying the way I know it. They're all trying to recruit me to their teams...they all think I owe them something just because we're at the same school. If they'd caught me they would have dragged me back to the gyms, or at the very least, it would have been another long argument about how I'm letting the school down or not 'fulfilling my potential.' Ugh, life was so much easier when nobody thought I had potential."

"...Is it really that bad?" Izuku questions, because they'd seemed awfully determined. He's never been the kind of person that played sports, but he's pretty sure the clubs at his school didn't stalk potential teammates.

"It's kind of my own fault" Tsuna admits. "One of my teachers learned what my quirk could do and made me use it. I overdid it and now everyone at school wants a piece of me. I even got kicked out of the manga club because they didn't want me to feel pressured to stay with them over one of the sports teams!"

"But, then why go to Seirin in the first place?" Iida asks, genuinely curious. "You must have known it was a sport-central school."

"Because Takeshi was going" Tsuna replies with a shrug, as if that explains everything. "He's my friend-well, brother now, I guess. His dream is to play baseball professionally, and our family is close. Since he was the only one who needed a specific school, we all applied. There are plenty of students who don't have anything to do with sports attending – I don't know why they're so hung up on me."

"That does seem strange," Iida admits. "Unless, is your quirk a sports-related one?"

"Right, what is your quirk?" Izuku asks, already mulling over the possibilities. "One of classmates said you were hard to catch off guard? Some kind of enhanced sense quirk? I know those can be really useful in sports leagues."

"Well...it's hard to explain" Tsuna admits. "It does a lot, and it's kind of...multi-faceted?"

Izuku's eyes widen. While not exactly rare after so many generations of quirks, that isn't often seen in people who don't have at least one kind of physical quirk or tell. Ashido and Tokoyami are two of the most obvious Izuku knows, but even the less obvious Todoroki has his hair. Tsuna...looks perfectly normal.

"A multi-faceted quirk with no physical mutation?" Iida says, putting Izuku's thought's into the world. "I don't think I've ever seen one like that before."

Tsuna looks slightly panicked.

"Well, um, my eyes. My eyes sometimes change colour" he offers. "That's kind of a mutation?"

"What else does it do?" Izuku asks, wondering if it would be rude to take out a notebook and start writing. "What's it's name?"

"Um. It's registered as 'Harmonisation'" Tsuna offers. "It's been the dominant fla-ah, quirk on my father's side for a long time."

Izuku frowns. Harmonisation. It's kind of vague – he's not really sure what a quirk like that could do.

"Harmonisation?" Iida repeats. "Is it musical?"

Tsuna laughs. "If only it was that simple."

He shakes his head and looks at them for a few moments, before smiling.

"So, there's the most obvious part, which is a kind of...hyper intuition" he says, huffing slightly as if laughing at a private joke. "It's the only aspect that's always activated, and it helps me read people, like...it lets me know when people are dangerous to me, or if someone's lying, that sort of thing."

He gives a shy smile.

"Or let me know when some kind heroes-in-training will insist on escorting me no matter what I say."

Midoriya quickly hides an embarrassed laugh with a cough, while Iida nods at the explanation.

"Oh, so you can probably see an opponent's strategy" Iida exclaims. "You can figure out where they'll throw or who they'll pass to. That would be an excellent addition."

Izuku nods. He can already think of a dozen scenarios a quirk like that would be useful in hero work – so he can't imagine sports would be much different.

But-

"Wait, you said it was multi-faceted, and that's the only part that doesn't turn off" he says. "It does more?"

Tsuna nods. "There's a physical aspect to it too. It's...really hard to explain but, basically I can sort of fly? And I can throw and punch with a lot more strength when I'm using it?"

Iida jerks to a stop so quick Tsuna almost walks into him. Izuku would laugh if his jaw wasn't already on the floor.

"Wh-what part of that can be described as harmonisation?" Iida squawks, and Tsuna hunches down.

"It's...it's kind of hereditary and not something I try to explain to people" he insists. "It's more annoying than anything special."

"No way, that's...amazing" Izuku gasps, completely disagreeing. "A quirk that has both mental and physical enhancing attributes that increase your overall capabilities would be insanely useful. Flight alone is so rare, especially without a mutation to provide lift. How much stronger are you when using the physical aspect? Is it a levitation or gravity quirk? That would explain how you could increase your strength but – how much control do you have? And how good is your intuition? Can you predict dangerous events? How far into the future can you see? It it only a few seconds or can you spot threats in advance? Is it just people or can you read other things, like, if there was an earthquake-"

"Midoriya, breath" Iida interrupts, grabbing his shoulder and giving him a sharp shake. Izuku sucks in a much needed breath, and flushes red when he sees how wide Tsuna's eyes have gotten. The teen looks about 3 seconds away from bolting.

"Um...sorry" Izuku says, head dropping. "I just, I really like hearing about quirks. Analysing them is kind of a hobby."

If anything that makes Tsuna look even more tense, but eventually his shoulders drop and he looks away.

"It's okay. I know a lot of people at school are interested in it too" he says. "It's a weird one."

"No, no, it's not weird at all" Izuku insists, moving forward almost instinctively, because really? "It's incredible! You could do anything with a quirk like that. No wonder the teams are all chasing you."

"He's completely right" Iida agrees. "Honestly, I don't know how you didn't pass the hero exams. Did you struggle with the written tests?"

Tsuna's flinches, and he's suddenly looking everywhere but at them.

"You...didn't take any hero entrance exams?" Iida asks, looking as if Tsuna just announced the sky was green. "None at all?"

The teen shrugs. "I told you, my family are close. We wanted to stay together, and I didn't want to be a hero."

Iida's mouth is on the floor, and Izuku desperately wants to sit down, while Tsuna gives a small smile.

"Besides, if I'd applied for a hero school, the others would have insisted on coming, even Takeshi, and I couldn't do that to him. Plus, I think the local police force would have had collective strokes if Hayato went into heroics. There's not a loophole in the quirk and self defence laws he hasn't found and abused to it's limit."

The last part sounds a little like a joke, but not entirely, and Izuku's a little thrown.

"That's..." Izuku starts, and trails off, not really sure how to continue. He doesn't understand at all – how can someone have a quirk like Tsuna has and not-

"That's ridiculously selfish of you!" Iida bursts out, and Izuku steps back in shock as his friend steps forward, arms flailing as he stares down the teen in front of them. "You could do so much good with your quirk! You have opportunities that hundreds in this country can only dream of, to not even contribute to your schools reputation is not only arrogant but-"

"You don't know me!" Tsuna yells, but Iida cuts himself off as Izuku stares at the now angry teen with eyes now a brilliant, burning orange.

' Oh, so that's what he meant by changing colour.'

Tsuna closes the distance between them, moving with a confidence that hadn't been there in all of their earlier interactions.

"You know, I thought I'd finally be free of people's expectations when I came here, but it's the same crap only with a different topic" he spits out. "Everyone expecting you to just do what everyone tells you to do without any regard for what you want to do. Why is it wrong to make your own choices? Even if they're not popular, or even the most acceptable, I have a right to make them!"

Iida is floundering, half stepping back as the unassuming and apologetic boy they'd been accompanying vanished beneath the feral lion. Izuku's not sure if he's imagining it or not, but he swears he sees fire start to flicker on the boy's forehead.

"Of course you do!" Izuku splutters, leaping in front of Iida without thinking and waving his hands, going straight into damage control - the soothing Kaachan mode. "It's not wrong to not take part if you don't want to, really!"

Iida is already throwing himself into a bow.

"My apologies" he offers. "I have a tendency to jump to conclusions. I forget that not everyone sees things from my point of view."

To Izuku's relief, Tsuna appears to be calming down, that bright hue dimming back to brown while the teen shrinks back in on himself.

"No...I'm the one whose sorry" he says, head down. "It's just...it's been a long day, I shouldn't have yelled like that. You didn't say anything I haven't heard before."

"But...how could you have a quirk like that and not want to use it?" Iida asks, apparently not quite deterred from poking the dragon. "I just can't understand it."

"To be honest, he has a point" Izuku admits, and Iida looks at him in gratitude. "A quirk like that...it could do so much. If I'd developed that quirk, there's no way I wouldn't want to use it."

Tsuna's ire softens at the question.

"I guess I can see that. Maybe if I'd had it all my life, I'd think the same way you do."

Izuku frowns. "What do you mean?"

Tsuna shrugs his shoulders, and starts moving forward, forcing the student heroes to start chasing after him.

"I was a...late bloomer?" he tells them, once they've confirmed the direction. "My quirk didn't show up until I was fourteen. And by then I was 'Dame-Tsuna,' who was completely no good at anything. My only 'responsibility' to the world was to stay out of the way and be the bottom rung on everyone else's ladder."

"You grew up quirkless" Izuku whispers, a strand of kinship immediately forming at the words.

"I guess?" Tsuna replies. "My whole life, my classmates made fun of me, the kids in my street wouldn't play with me, even the teachers mocked me. Everyone in my town knew I was never going to be more than 'Dame-Tsuna' so there was no point in pretending otherwise.

"You were never expected to apply yourself" Iida says, starting to understand. "No...you were actively encouraged not to."

Tsuna nods.

"Pretty much. To be honest, things didn't change that drastically for most people even when Rebo- when my quirk appeared. Then I come here, where nobody knows who I am, but now I have this quirk, and it's all different."

The brown haired teen starts staring up the sky, and sounds just a little wistful.

"In Namimori, nobody wanted me on their team. I was No-Good, so if we lost it was automatically my fault. But here, everyone expects me to play or do my part, even though I'm still exactly the same person I was before my quirk showed up."

He turns to Izuku and Iida and gives a sad smile.

"If I didn't have that quirk, nobody would pay any attention to me. So I don't really feel like joining a team whose only interested because I'm useful now. Especially since I don't really enjoy playing."

"I've been there" Izuku tells him, because at this point how can he not ? "My quirk didn't show up until last year. My classmates and teachers, they all looked down on me for wanting to be a hero even though I was quirkless."

Tsuna's eyes – now back to their basic brown – brighten at the words.

"Then you get it" he says, and Izuku shrinks into himself.

"A little" he says. "But...not really? Didn't you ever dream of being a hero? Fantasise what you'd do if you did develop a quirk? If it appeared when you were fourteen, you had time to change your plans."

Tsuna frowns, chewing on his lip.

"Well, think about it this way" Tsuna offers after a few moments. "Izuku, you said you were quirkless until last year right?" Tsuna asks. "You were a late bloomer too?"

Izuku nods, and Tsuna smiles.

"Then why did you apply for UA? You didn't have your quirk before you applied."

...And there lies an entire novel that Izuku cannot explain to someone he just met.

"I-I just always wanted to be a hero" he offers instead. "I wanted to make people happy, help save them with a smile. Be someone people could rely on."

"But you didn't have a quirk" Tsuna insists, and Izuku grits his teeth, unsure of where this is going considering the conversation they just had.

"You don't need a quirk to be a hero" he insists, and to his surprise, Tsuna smiles.

"I completely agree," he says, and Izuku flounders.

"But, then why-"

"Because you basically just told me that anyone with a powerful quirk should apply to be a hero" Tsuna explains. "Despite the fact that you applied without any at all."

Izuku's eyes dart to the side.

Well...technically...

"A hero is more than just their quirk" Tsuna states, not noticing his discomfort. "You could have the most powerful quirk in the world and it wouldn't matter if you weren't the right kind of person. Just like sports – I could play, and I might even be good, but I don't care about them. People like Takeshi – they live and breath the game."

Tsuna smiles, his face slightly red.

"I really admire him sometimes. Him and Brother – they're so passionate about it, I'm not sure I've ever wanted anything half as much as they do. They get up early to train, never skipping, no matter what. And it's not just training, Takeshi can recite every winner of every tournament for the last twenty years, and he can debate strategy till the early hours of the morning. Quirk or no quirk, he's going to be an amazing baseball player, and it's insulting to his drive and dreams to think I should compete on that field just because I've got a super power that makes me hard to beat."

"Huh...I guess, I didn't think of it like that" Izuku offers, a dark feeling pooling in his gut.

He can't believe he'd just pulled the same kind of logic on Tsuna that everyone used to throw on him. Tsuna has a powerful quirk, so of coursehe must play on a sports team or become a hero. Just like ' Deku ' was quirkless and therefore should accept that he'll never be a hero, or even anything of merit.

They turn a corner, and Tsuna gives a loud sigh of relief when he makes out the sign midway down the street.

"Oh there it is. I really hope Kyoko and Fuuta didn't just wait for me. Kyoko's been desperate to try this place all week."

He steps forward, and then hesitates, turning to face his would-be rescuers.

"Do you want to join us?" he asks, though Izuku suspects it's more good manners than a genuine offer at this point. This had been a heavy conversation for both late bloomers.

"Thank you for the offer, but we should probably head back into town" Iida offers, thankfully taking the need to refuse from Izuku. "Our female classmates said they would be attending this establishment today, and it would probably be wrong for us to drop in on the girls day out."

Izuku gives a furious nod in agreement, and Tsuna smiles in understanding.

"Well, thanks again" he says, this time with sincerity. "And I meant what I said about Takesushi and a discount. I promise the sushi is worth it."

He gives them a short wave, and jogs into the building. Izuku watches until he vanishes from sight.

"Shall we get going?" Iida offers, turning back the way they came. However, when he realises the boy by his side isn't heading away, Iida glances down in confusion.

"Midoriya, are you okay?"

"I...I'm not really sure" Izuku admits, still thinking about the conversation and the boy they'd met.

He guesses he sees Tsuna's point. All of their lives, Izuku was looked down upon because he didn't have a quirk, while Kaachan was given special treatment because of it. His friend did awful things growing up, but he's still at UA, chasing his dream. Izuku has never once questioned that the explosive teen deserved to be a hero, even when he was at his cruellest.

And Izuku? Izuku got in thanks to All Might giving him his quirk, but he's still the same person he was before he got it. But that person would never have passed the entrance exam – Izuku didn't even start training his body until All might gave him a training regime.

Because even when he refused to give up on his dream, the subconscious part of him knew someone quirkless would never succeed, so why try?

He has friends, and his dream school, and the world's greatest mentor, but would he have any of it without One for All? Is he achieving his dream because he's Izuku, or because he's the One For All quirk.

"Hey, Iida" he starts. "Do you think...I mean, if my quirk hadn't shown up when it did. Do you think I could have made it into UA?"

Iida's eyes narrow. "What brought this one? Don't tell me you think Tsunayoshi had a point."

"It's...not an inaccurate point" Izuku argues. "People are judged by their quirks all the time. You expect things of people because of their quirk. Am I only here because I was lucky enough to get one just in time?"

Iida stares at him, and Izuku turns away in embarrassment.

No matter how far he's progressed, the lonely quirkless boy is still very much a part of him, and just a little closer to the surface than he's been in a while.

Suddenly, a hand grips his shoulder, and Izuku is jerked back to reality by an exasperated sigh.

"Midoriya, aren't you forgetting something?" Iida tells him. "You got in thanks to Rescue points."

Izuku blinks, turning back to stare at his friend as Iida grins.

"You got into UA thanks to Rescue Points" Iida says. "Something you've told me you didn't know existed during the exam. If you had gone into the exam with no quirk, you still would have run to save Uraraka. Because that's what you do ."

The grip loosens, and Iida pats the smaller teen heavily on the shoulder.

"Even when we really wish you wouldn't. Perhaps Sawada Tsunayoshi has a point regarding people and expectations regarding quirks, but you are not one of them. While I definitely cannot agree with his decision to ignore his quirk, his arguments regarding a person's other necessary factors for quirk-related careers was quite valid. Now, shall we return to the shopping district and see if they've finally achieved the correct colour scheme for my brother's figurine?"

Izuku feels the heavy feeling lift from his stomach, and he grins back in relief.

"Yeah, let's go. Hey, Iida?"

"Yes Midoriya?"

"Thank you."

* * *

 _Can you all tell I'm still a little bitter at the whole 'you can be a hero IF you inherit my quirk' part of the Hero Academia plot?_


	8. Uraraka

This really was a great idea. As much as Uraraka enjoys Deku and Iida's company, it's nice to get to know the other girls in her class. And Momo choosing to use her connections to get them additional coupons so they can really splurge without worrying about her monthly budget is just icing on top, pun intended.

"I'm so glad everyone decided to come" Uraraka says, grinning at Tsuyu, who seems just as pleased.

"Yeah. It' s nice to have a girls days out sometimes, ribbit."

"You got that right!"

Jiro immediately slips in between the two, slinging her arms around their shoulders.

"Can you imagine taking the boys to a place like this?" she snickers. "I've seen Sero and Kaminari at lunch, I don't even think they know how forks _work_."

Ashido joins them with a cackle. "Oh that's nothing. What about Blasty in a place like this?"

"Which is exactly why none of them were invited" Momo insists. "This is just for us today."

They're all chuckling as they reach the Cassima Cake Store, but Uraraka's smile fades when she notices a small group huddled outside the door. It's a girl about their age, with a young boy at her side, and a taller male leaning over her, braced against the wall.

"-Think you're playing hard to get a little too hard?" she hears him say, while the girl below him bristles.

"I already told you Mazo, I'm not interested in going out with you" she says.

"Hey, it's okay Kyo-chan, your brother's aren't here, you can be honest" he replies right back, and the young boy scowls.

"I'm still here! And big brother Tsuna will be here in minutes!"

Mazo glances in his direction, and rolls his eyes, but Kyoko quickly draws his attention back.

"It's Sasagawa, Mazo" she replies, face grim. "And Tsuna, Hayato and Takeshi don't control me. It's still no."

Considering the way his eyes narrow, it's clearly not the answer her would-be suitor wants to hear.

"You're not that pretty Kyo-chan" he growls. "And considering your disability, you should be goddamned grateful I'm even giving you the time of day. When Shuto graduates next year, I'll be captain of the basketball team, and way out of your league, so why don't you appreciate your luck, leave the brat to tell your 'company' you had a rain check, and buy me a cake?"

"She said no!" the boy at her side snaps. "And you're ranked no.5 on the list of upperclassman Kyoko doesn't want to date!"

The male student's face is going dark, and while the girl is standing tall, there's no small amount of uncertainty crawling into her eyes. Behind her, Uraraka can feel Tsuyu and Jiro shaking with fury – she doesn't even want to know what the others look like. This can't be allowed to stand.

And so, with the power of solidarity that only woman know, Uraraka steps right in, hopping forward and slinging an arm around the girls shoulders.

"There you are!" she squeals, face full of false cheer. "I am sorry we were late. You weren't waiting too long right?"

The girl looks confused for approximately one tenth of a second, before she's throwing herself right into the act.

"Oh no, not at all!" she insists, with one of the most disarming grins Uraraka has ever witnessed. She's pretty sure she's blushing.

Her classmates thankfully, are quickly stepping up, and the boy is backing away, face paling when Ashido walks forward, hiding Uraraka and her new friend from view.

"Thanks for keeping our friend company" she says, in the most insincere voice the acid-throwing student can offer. "But I'm sure you have places to be now, yes?"

His eyes dart across the group of girls, and their UA uniforms, and proves that he has some survival instincts in quickly turning and heading off.

"I'll see you at school Sasagawa. You should still think about it!"

The young girl and boy both wait until the teen is a good distance down the street, before they both sigh, shoulders relaxing.

"Thank you so much" she says, slipping out from Uraraka's grasp. "I really wasn't sure how I could keep that from getting worse."

"You're ranked just under Tsuna for not being able to say no" the boy by her side comments, lifting up a large book Uraraka hadn't noticed at his feet, and the girl blushes.

"I know! But I can't help it! And I even said it this time. Twice even!"

"It's okay" Uraraka laughs. "Guys who can't take a hint are the worst."

"Amen to that" Momo mutters darkly.

"I'm Sasagawa Kyoko" the girl offers. "And this is Fuuta de Stella."

Fuuta smiles and waves. "Thanks for helping out. They normally wouldn't be bold, but Tsuna's late."

"Nice to meet you!" Uraraka replies. "I'm Ochaco Uraraka."

The rest of the girls quickly introduces themselves, and without discussing it, find themselves adding Kyoko and Fuuta to their group. It just doesn't seem right to leave them without escort until this 'Tsuna' arrives. She does vaguely wonder how they know each other though – even ignoring their names, there's absolutely no family resemblance whatsoever. Is Fuuta perhaps Tsuna's younger sibling?

"So who were you waiting for?" Jiro asks with a grin as they enter the line – this promotion is apparently popular. "Is Tsuna your boyfriend?"

That makes Kyoko laugh, while Fuuta bites his lip.

"Oh no, nothing like that" she insists. "He's family. We go to the same school, but he got held up with cleaning duties and told me to go ahead. I think he might have gotten into some trouble on the way out, but I'm sure he'd call if he couldn't make it. He'll be here soon, right Fuuta?"

The girls frown as she glances down at the boy, who is nodding seriously.

"Everyone was pretty highly ranked for getting caught up today, but he wasn't at the top" he explains. "He'll definitely make it."

"I'm sorry, ranked?" Momo asks.

"Oh, it's my quirk" Fuuta says, heaving up the large book and patting the cover. "I can rank anything with 100% accuracy."

At that, he stops, before sighing and closing his eyes.

"But only when I am in the privacy of my own home and never to gain an unfair advantage in commercial or political markets" he continues, with the monotone of someone who has had the sentence recited to him constantly. Kyoko is giggling by the end.

"Hayato would be so proud" she tells him, and the boy's face reddens.

"Big brother Tsuna wouldn't let me leave the house until I could recite it by heart" he admits.

"Tsuna...where have I heard that name before?" Toru mutters to herself, while Momo is smiling at the boy.

"That's quite an impressive quirk" she compliments. "I bet it must be useful – did your parents tell you to recite that?"

Fuuta's smile, a dim little thing, thins out and he looks away.

"No. That was big brother Hayato" he tells them. "He make sure none of us does anything illegal, but he says my quirk is the biggest wildcard because it's a little compulsive."

"Compulsive?" Momo questions.

"He _needs_ to rank things" Kyoko explains, as they all settle in line. "He gets antsy if he goes too long. Normally he can get by if he ranks silly things, like best cake stores, or which family member is going to be late today, but sometimes he starts doing it outside of the home, and that's..."

Awkward, Uraraka thinks. And illegal, if anyone spotted him doing it – although Uraraka doubts anyone in Musutafu would really stop someone from doing something as asinine as listing random odds.

She voices the suspicion, and Fuuta flushes red.

"Well, when I do it, I kind of make things around me...float?"

Tsuyu, who had been glancing at the cakes in the glass case by the counter, jerks up.

"Float?" she hacks. "Like, floaty float?"

Fuuta nods, and Uraraka winces.

"Oh, yeah, that would be hard to hide."

As someone who has a gravity related, five finger activation quirk, she's had more than one close call with quirk use, because making a bag of shopping or books just a little bit lighter is just so much _easier_ sometimes. She can't imagine how much harder it is to resist a _compulsive_ quirk where the gravity reaction is just a side effect.

"Why on earth would ranking things make things float?" Jiro asks, and Ashido snickers.

"Why does erasing quirks make Aizawa's _hair_ float?" she counters. "Sometimes quirk effects are just weird."

Uraraka grins at that very true statement, and glances back over at Kyoko.

"Is it a common side effect in his family?" she asks. "Or a mutation from another quirk?"

Kyoko blinks, looking slightly panicked, but before she can answer, the line has cleared, and all questions are held off until cake and drink are in hand. Uraraka is delighted to find that amongst the more western concoctions is an utterly charming looking Japanese cheesecake, and a lemon flavoured chiffon – although she reluctantly passes it over for the chocolate cake roll. Ashido is definitely looking at the Japanese options too, though the rest of them are all fawning over the beautifully decorated western cakes. Kyoko happens to be looking at the options with the eye of cake connoisseur, and ordering a half dozen different slices with an almost terrifying frenzy, asking for all but Fuuta's requested chocolate cake and a single slice of strawberry shortcake to be boxed up.

"We did plan to make an afternoon of trying cakes" she explains while handing over the coupons. "But since Tsuna's so late, it's probably best if I take most of it home. That way everyone can try it. I know my sister was sad she couldn't make it, but there was a sale on the other side of town that only ran today, and she really wanted a certain dress."

"Ah, fashion or cake, the age old question that plagues all women" Jiro jokes as they sit down, plucking a strawberry from the top of her own confection. Kyoko grins back, spoon poking at her own dessert while Fuuta happily digs into his own.

"I hope Tsuna's okay though" she says. "When he's on his own, he has almost as much trouble as I do with classmates harassing him."

"That guy's been bothering you for a while, ribbit?" Tsuyu asks.

"Nothing as forward as that before" Kyoko admits. "But he's not the only one. Normally they don't try anything at school, but when I'm alone, they suddenly get bolder. They all act like I should jump at the chance to date anyone."

"He _was_ saying something weird like that" Toru muses. "Something about a disability?"

"It's not a disability" Kyoko mutters, stabbing her cake with a little too much force. "It's nothing of the sort."

"What isn't?" Uraraka asks, and then winces.

"Ah, I mean, you don't need to tell us if you don't-"

"No, no, it's fine" Kyoko insists, and scowls.

"It's because I'm quirkless" she tells them. "Apparently that makes me a 'charity case' and I should be grateful to get any attention that isn't from my family."

Uraraka's jaw is on the floor, and judging from the looks around the table, she's not the only one. Tsuyu even goes the extra mile, hands slamming on the table and standing up in indignation.

"What!

"That's outrageous!" Jiro scoffs, and Uraraka completely agrees. "You're not even allowed to use quirks unless you've got a licence! A quirk doesn't make you any better or worse than the next person!"

It's clearly the right thing to say, because Kyoko's scowl melts into that smile Uraraka had fallen victim to earlier.

"Exactly" she says. "But people at school at like I've told them I'm missing a limb. I'm grateful I have my family around, or I'd probably do something I'd regret."

"What's is like?" Ashido asks, looking somewhat hesitant. "I mean, it was never something I-"

She vaguely gestures at herself. "-Was ever going to have to worry about, but I've always wondered how it is to not have a quirk in this day and age."

Tsuyu and Jiro both look somewhat curious, while Toru is leaning on the table and Momo's eyes are torn between her manners insisting they change the subject and the scholarly curiosity that also wants an answer. Uraraka admits she probably doesn't look much better – while she knows Deku's late quirk meant he grew up quirkless, he clearly doesn't like talking about it, and it's never been a question she would ever dare ask.

Kyoko at least, doesn't seem upset at the question, instead leaning back and frowning.

"Um...I'm not sure if I'm really the best person to ask" she admits. "I know Musutafu sees a lot of accidental or random quirk use and not having one is a weird thing here, but in the town I grew up in, people with flashy powers were really regulated. Until I was fourteen, I almost never saw quirks in action. Not having a quirk was more or less the same as having one a lot of the time. Coming here and suddenly having it matter...it's very different."

"But...surely you saw them some times" Momo insists. "I mean, you said you had a brother. You must have seen him use his quirk-"

She bites off. "Or...is he also..."

"Oh, no, he has one" Kyoko replies. "But its an enhancing kind that's always on? So I never really noticed it."

She frowns at that. "I guess...the only thing I know is different about having power and not, is everyone wants to...coddle you. Even when my brother and friends were in danger, they would constantly lie to me. They didn't want me to worry, or be upset that I couldn't help out. But it hurt more that they didn't tell me."

"Danger?" Momo asks, frowning at the sentence.

Kyoko smiles. "Let's just say there's a very good reason we all moved to Musutafu," she explains.

"The fact that I didn't know what was going on was so _frustrating_ , because I knew something was. I'm not stupid. Even when Tsuna did come clean, I knew I couldn't help him any more than I already was. But at least then I knew what was happening. I wasn't just living in my own little world, oblivious to what they were going through. Just because I can't fight, doesn't mean I can't help."

"Wow, I'm so sorry" Uraraka offers.

"Don't be. They know better now" Kyoko insists. "Even if Brother took a little while to warm up to the idea."

A bright and cheery tune suddenly cuts through the air, emanating from Kyoko's bag. Before Uraraka can register that it's a ringtone, Kyoko's already rifling through and grabbing the phone.

"Yamamoto, is everything okay?" she asks the caller. "Yes I'm...ah. I thought something like that had happened. Is everyone else there? Okay. Thanks for letting me know. I'll wait for him and we'll both be home soon."

She drops the call, and glances at the box on the table with apologetic smile.

"Probably a good thing I got these to go. Tsuna's not going to be in the mood to be away from home too long."

"So Tsuna's your brother?" Tsuyu asks. "But...wait-"

She's frowning, and Uraraka ponders on the story. Kyoko has called Tsuna family, and mentioned 'home' suggesting they live together, but she's also referred to someone by 'Brother,' and Fuuta referred to Tsuna earlier as-"

"Wait...Fuuta, you said Tsuna was your brother...but you also said he's your brother Kyoko? But you have different names, so-"

"We're fostered" Kyoko explains.

"Obviously" Fuuta replies, digging into his cake. "I'm not even Japanese."

Everyone is suddenly very focused on their cake, and Uraraka bites her lip. Obviously the two aren't related, but you shouldn't just come out and _say_ that. She thought that maybe Kyoko had been babysitting or something. Who are they to judge any family-

However, everyone jerks up when they hear a laugh, and find both Fuuta and Kyoko chuckling.

"You don't need to be so embarrassed" Kyoko assures them. "We've never considered it something to be ashamed of."

"Yamamato and Tsuna and everyone is much better than what I had before" Fuuta admits with confidence.

Kyoko nods. "There's seven of us total. Most of us are around the same age, Fuuta's the youngest, but he was getting fostered with Tsuna before Yamamoto took us all in, so there was never any question of him coming" she explains. And my brother – my biological one, Ryohei, he's with us too, so it's really great."

"Sounds like a big family, ribbit" Tsuyu comments. "That must be nice."

"It is" Kyoko replies. "Except in the morning when everyone wants a shower."

Uraraka, well aware that Tsuyu has two siblings and a family full of water-oriented quirks, grins at the solemn nod the frog girl gives at the comment.

"I can't believe he took in so many" Toru says. "Were you all at the same orphanage or something? Was there a major villain incident in your town?"

"No...actually, my parents are still alive" Kyoko explains, and falters. Fuuta immediately glances up, and tugs on her arm.

"Kyoko..."

She brushes off his concern. "It's okay Fuuta. It is what it is."

"Don't tell me they gave you up because you were quirkless" Ashido questions, and raises her hands in defence when the whole table glares at her.

"Ashido!"

"Sorry, sorry!" she yelps. Kyoko watches in shock, before shaking her head.

"No! No, no, no, nothing like that" she assures them. "Don't get me wrong, they weren't abusive or anything. It's just...they liked the idea of children, more than they liked actually having them. They didn't really know what to do with us once we were there."

Her eyes dim a little, and she glances down at Fuuta, whose clutching his book and watching her with a sad expression.

"Brother's always been headstrong, he'd get into fights and they wouldn't care. Even when his opponents were far too big and they hurt him. I had to beg him to stop. They barely noticed. Not intentionally, but other things just seemed more important. At some point I started being more Brother's parent than his sister, because I knew they'd forget to make enough dinner for us, or not notice that we needed new uniforms, or even restock the first aid cabinet because Brother always ran through it with training. There was just so much with their work and hobbies that we just never seemed to be a priority. Eventually, when I got old enough, I convinced them to give us a bank account with an automatic deposit in case they 'forgot,' and I took care of it. That was just how it was."

She sighs.

"I guess...I never really realised how little we mattered until..."

"Kyoko..." Fuuta whispers, and the girl clams up, mulling over the words.

"Until?" Uraraka coaxes.

"There was an incident" Kyoko explains. "I can't really talk about it but, me and my friends, we all got abducted."

"What!" the table shrieks in unison, and blush at the foul looks that come their way. Kyoko's hands are immediately up, trying to calm them down.

"It's not as bad as it...well, it _was_ but….don't worry, it's all good now. Anyway, we were gone a while, and while everything worked out, everyone was fine, when we got home."

Her shoulders slumped, and she looked away.

"My parents...they hadn't even realised we were _gone_.

Uraraka feels her heart clench, and Tsuyu gives out a small, sad sound.

"Brother...brother I could almost understand," Kyoko continues. "He's the kind of person who would go on a training trip and forget to tell them. But I _always_ came home. To make sure everything was okay. To be gone weeks, and for them to not even call the school to check if I was attending..."

It's funny, there's no talk of violence or crime, but Uraraka's heart is breaking at the...injustice of it all. She's known the girl in front of her all of thirty minutes but it's clear to anyone with eyes that Kyoko is a kind, sweet girl, who probably doesn't ask for much from life. Especially considering she's been giving a bad hand as one of the 20%.

Uraraka's family have always had to pinch pennies. She's acutely aware of how much they had to sacrifice to give her a chance at her dreams. But they have _always_ been there for her, its a gift that no amount of money could buy. That's the way families are supposed to be.

It hurts, to be reminded that her blessings are not always universal.

Kyoko's eyes are dark, but the veil seems to lift as her story finishes up.

"Well, after that, when I learned Yamamoto was taking custody of the others, I asked him to talk to my parents. I'm not even sure if they knew what they were signing, but they didn't protest, and here we are. The rambunctious group that opened a restaurant and live our lives to the fullest."

"Restaurant?" Toru repeats, only to gasp, thrusting an arm in front of her.

Because Toru is given a strangled squawk.

"Takesushi" she announces. "You live and work at Takesushi! Your 'Tsuna' is the super-talented no-sports guy?"

Kyoko blinks.

"Eh?"

"Toru, what are you talking about?" Momo questions, and the invisible girl suddenly flies into a frantic explanation.

"One time when I was walking home with Ojiro and Kaminari, we ran into a friend of Ojiro's who goes to Seirin! They ended up talking about this guy with a really awesome quirk that wouldn't join the teams. I found out later that he and his family lived at that sushi restaurant, the new sushi place all the teachers love, right?"

Kyoko laughs, though it seems more nervous than anything.

"They do seem to pop up a lot."

"Oh! I knew you looked familiar!" Momo says, face lighting up. "I've ordered sushi from there before. It was quite satisfactory, you were the greeter, yes?"

The girl looks a lot more relaxed now, and grins back. "Yes. Everyone says I'm a natural at it. Please come back soon, I'll make a point to remember you."

"Ooh, class sushi trip anyone?" Jiro asks, and suddenly everyone is talking dates and favourite types.

Before they can come up with anything concrete, the bell for the entrance chimes, and Kyoko's face lights up, hand reaching up as Fuuta jumps from the chair to meet the new arrival.

"Tsuna!"

The table quiets, and Uraraka quickly swings her head, blushing a little when she realises nobody at the table had been particularly subtle.

He's...underwhelming, she thinks. Short, with a truly spectacular mess of hair and panicked eyes – although that might just be due to the number of girls currently staring at him. To be honest, he looks a little stressed, though his body relaxes when Fuuta wraps his arms around his waist and looks up with genuine admiration.

"Are you okay big brother?"

"Huh?" he says, before apparently realising where he is and rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry, sorry!" he offers. "I came as soon as I could."

He seems to brush off the nerves and heads over the table, though he only has eyes for Kyoko.

"I'm so sorry I'm late" he apologises. "I hope you didn't wait for me."

"It's okay" Kyoko assures him, standing up and presenting the cake box. "I got it to go."

Tsuna frowns.

"Are you sure?"

Kyoko grins. "Of course. Besides, if your phone's been off and you're this late, Hayato is going to be a mess. It's probably best we go home before he comes here."

Tsuna blanches, and gives a reluctant nod.

"Yeah...yeah you're right. To be honest I haven't felt good all day. I'll be better when I see everyone. It's been a weird afternoon."

He and Fuuta immediately head for the door, and Kyoko glances back.

"It was nice meeting you all" she says. "Come by Takesushi sometime!"

"I could rank you!" Fuuta offers, and his eyes go wide.

"Ooh, ranking by firepower, or ranking by potential, or maybe popularity..."

"Ack, Fuuta!" Tsuna blusters, grabbing the boy by the shoulders and ushering him out. "Not outside, not outside!"

Kyoko winces, holding her face in one hand.

"Oh, and he's been doing so well too. Better get going. But I meant it about Takesushi, I can introduce you to my sister too."

She gives a final wave and follows her siblings out the door.

"Interesting family" Tsuyu comments, and Uraraka nods, only to jerk as Toru slams her fist on the table.

"Nooo! I didn't get to grill Tsuna about his super quirk!" she whines.

"Super...quirk?" Uraraka questions.

Toru...well it's hard to tell, but she's pretty sure the invisible girl nods. And then precedes to tell them all about the conversation she'd had some weeks back regarding Ojiro's classmate and their mystery gifted student.

"Are you sure it was him though?" Ashido asks once the girl had finished talking. "I mean, he didn't really look like much. Him being some kind of prodigy seems a reach."

"Well, you could say that about Deku" Uraraka argues. "You could even argue it about me or Momo."

After all, in the class of quirk users, Momo is the only female with no major mutations. And even then, Uraraka's finger pads are easy to overlook.

"That is a valid point" Momo offers. "One would not think our teacher was a hero at first glance, no?"

Ashido succumbs at that point, looking thoughtful.

"Well, we'll just have to do some researching of our own when we visit Takesushi" she says, grinning over the table. Momo grins back and claps her hands.

"Perfect!" she says. "Maybe we can even book a large booth and get a deal on some platters if we bring the whole class."

Uraraka lights up.

Now that, sounds like an excellent plan.

She wonders if Deku and Iida like sushi?

* * *

 _Not much in the way of plot - mostly me coming up with a backstory for why the Sasagawa's - who arguably DID have family - came along with everyone else._

 _Next up? Recovery Girl._


	9. Chiyo

Chiyo has been at UA for decades now, watching each new generation pass through it's doors and onwards to their own future. Recovery Girl is almost as synonymous with UA as All Might is with the concept of peace.

But she's getting older. At this point she's the last of her generation to still be in service. Most are dead, and the remaining lucky few quite happily retired and armed with wallets full of photos of their grandchildren whenever they pop in. Every time they visit, they laugh and reminisce and ask her when she plans on joining them.

The honest truth is, she thought she would have been by now. But she can't bring herself to leave just yet. Her friends all married and had children to be their legacies, or found a protege or sidekick to take their mantle when they stepped down. When Recovery Girl had left the front lines to focus on serving at UA, it had been because her own teacher, 'Miss-Aid,' had been leaving for good, and she's spent the last twenty years waiting for her own successor to walk through the doors.

It's been a pointless quest. Of the handful of healing quirks to make it into UA, none of them were in the hero course, or too weak to really be useful for anything more serious than a scuffed knee.

The bitter fact was, she was a relic from another time, when quirks were still something more feared than celebrated. She got her licence when UA was still in it's origin story, long before the entrance exam started thinning quirks down by their strength rather than versatility, when a pretty girl who could heal with a kiss was everything the pro-quirk politicians wished for.

Nowadays, if you have a strong healing quirk, hero is your secondary option. If you can heal, you're heading straight for medical school. While Recovery Girl was awarded her degree due to an intense amount of field work and training, anyone planning on using a healing quirk nowadays is expected to have a medical licence as well. Which frankly is a burden no sane teenager will ever consider, and leaves Recovery Girl, one of the few healing-quirk heroes in the business, to keep patching up the broken students.

She's terrified of the day she wakes up and realises she can't do it any more. Much like Yagi's impending fate, Recovery Girl's days are numbered, and with it comes far more consequences than one would think. How exactly will UA continue their entrance exam, or their sports festival, without a quirk that can support the sheer number of injuries such events leave in their wake?

Perhaps that's why she's so desperate now, she thinks, walking towards the teacher's lounge. While Dokuro Chrome's quirk might not be considered a 'healing' quirk, its versatility could make her invaluable as a hero. Strong enough to compete offensively, but supportive enough to keep civilians and her fellow heroes alive. Something that, while incapable of healing students, supportive enough to give the damage to a minimum long enough to get them to a quirk that _can_.

Of course, the young Chrome isn't using her quirk – choosing general education at a school designed to encourage quirk use (and oh, Chiyo can't understand that no matter how hard she tries). Someone, at some point, destroyed the girls confidence to the point where she doesn't want to use her gift – a quirk that should have been spotted and encouraged the moment it appeared, (and Chiyo would dearly like five minutes alone with whatever fool had achieved _that_ ), and Chiyo can't bear the thought of leaving things as they are.

Unfortunately, she'd made the mistake of leaving it in Present Mic's hands, and judging from the lack of progress, and the number of non-sushi related meals she'd spotted him eating, the confident loudmouth had been reluctant to prod. It's unlike him, but the fact that Eraser Head hasn't prodded him into action by now means it's up to Chiyo herself.

As such, she waits until she knows the man will be eating lunch, and slams the door open. To no surprise, he's been munching down on microwave noodles again, and she makes a mental note to scold him about a healthier diet once this is all said and done. When he spots her entering, he shoots from his seat.

"Recovery Girl!" he squeaks, hastily shoving the noodles to the far corner of his desk – to his side, lying on his arms, Aizawa is already grinning in anticipation - "You know, I was just coming to see you-"

"Uh huh" Chiyo interrupts. "I'm sure you were.

There's a manic chuckle from the slump of a man in the other chair.

"You knew this was coming..."

"Yes, thank you Shouta" Yamada replies through gritted teeth.

"Well?" Chiyo asks. "Did you speak to them?"

The man winces.

"Sort of. But Chiyo, the second I even _tried_ to bring up Chrome's quirk, everyone in that restaurant shut me down flat. Tsuyoshi was about ready to fillet me when I asked why she didn't apply for a hero course."

"You couldn't get anything?" she asks.

"Hey, talking is my gift" Yamada replies. "And I know how to pick my battles – that was not a fight I wanted to take on. If I say they're not talking, trust me, they're **not** talking."

Chiyo frowns. That's unfortunate, if expected. However-

"Then **I** shall do the talking" she replies, and Yamada's face falls. "I may receive resistance, but Chrome deserves every chance she may not understand she has."

"I think she understands plenty," Yamada mutters, and winces when Chiyo slams her cane down against the ground.

"Yamada Hizashi," Chiyo begins. "This afternoon, I am going to Takesushi to speak to the girl and her guardian. You can either give them a heads up and accompany me, or sit with your instant noodles like the coward I'm relatively certain you're not. Do you understand?"

The blond drops his head, staring at the limp noodles in the corner, and digging out his phone with a reluctant sigh.

"I swear, if I get banned from Takesushi for this, you better invest in quality grade ear plugs, because I am going to _wail_ like a baby."

Aizawa is snickering again, but Chiyo ignores it and heads out the door. For all of Yamada's dramatics, the man is not an idiot – if he _truly_ believed this was a pointless quest, no amount of threats or guilt would convince him to arrange anything.

"Ah, if there is to be a meeting," a voice pipes up. "Could I ask to be a part of it as well?"

Chiyo pauses, and turns to face Yagi, sitting with his hand up as if in class. In the back of her mind, she realises the entire staff room has joined her, not even pretending to hide their interest.

The hero hesitates when he spots the attention – he's still rather bad at being the main focus when he's not 'All Might' - but continues regardless.

"I'm the primary cause of this situation" Yagi continues. "I would like to apologise to Chrome again for her hospitalisation, and to perhaps learn about her quirk."

That, of all things, has Aizawa pushing himself up to glare at the other teacher.

"Don't tell me you're looking for a more permanent extension?" he accuses, and Yagi's eyes widen.

"No! Nothing like that" he insists. "While I admit the concept is tempting, I've come to terms with my impending retirement. But it's still a fascinating ability – I'd like to know exactly how she did it."

Aizawa is still glaring at the man, but seems to accept the answer, dropping back to his seat and falling back into his forwards slouch.

"Hey, the more the merrier" Yamada offers, phone to his ear. "Less chance of them yelling at me ag-Yamamoto! Afternoon, hows the restaurant doing?"

The Voice Hero immediately darts into a corner for something resembling privacy, and with her goal achieved, Chiyo leaves, heading back to the medical ward to prepare.

She can't deny that she expects the conversation to go poorly. Chrome clearly has _something_ of a support network, and a guardian that cares for her well being if Yamada's reluctance is anything to go by. Not something you often see when it comes to students and unrealised quirk potential, but she has to at least _try_.

If nothing else, she wants to know exactly who managed to destroy the girl so thoroughly, this conversation has to happen in the first place.

* * *

Several hours later, with the school locked up and the students all heading home, Chiyo finds herself walking towards the door of the now infamous restaurant with two overly tall blonds – one far too nervous, and the other miserable.

Honestly – heroes today are far too dramatic. Yagi's acting like a green rookie at his first press conference, and Yamada looks as if he's being dragged to the gallows as they walk up to the restaurant door. His demeanour doesn't improve when the door opens, revealing a very unhappy looking chef, who immediately glares at the three of them. Yamada attempts a wave, only to abort it when Yamamoto starts speaking with a viciously curt tone.

"I'm delaying opening for half an hour" he warns. "Once your time's up and you've said your piece, you leave."

"Totally, totally!" Yamada insists, hands up in a desperate attempt to placate, and Chiyo huffs.

"Really, I'm just looking for a simple discussion with a bright young girl" she insists. "It's not an interrogation."

"Tell that to me after spending several days trying to calm down a panicked young girl" Yamamoto snaps right back. "In addition to corralling several _very_ over-dramatic and protective teenage boys. They were just starting to calm down before your call – now I'm herding wet cats again."

"Is this really such an intrusion?" Yagi asks, looking dismayed. "We really don't mean any harm."

It should be impossible for a seven foot man to look like a kicked puppy, but Yagi does an excellent imitation. Yamamoto's expression softens almost immediately.

"No, I guess not" he admits. "One of the kids was going to attract this kind of attention eventually, we knew that. I guess we were just hoping we could last a little longer."

It's an odd reply, and one Chiyo can't help but mull over as she enters the store. Are all the teens blessed with powerful quirks? They're fosters, so it could make sense – a group banded together because of bad reactions to something they can't control. Showing both the best and worst of society. Would also explain why they're all so reluctant to use them, and Tsuyoshi, though he's no doubt doing an excellent job, likely doesn't have the psychological training to help recover from that experience.

Of course, that's just a theory. She really doesn't know more than bare bones, so it's best not to make conclusions yet.

When they enter, Chrome is sitting at one of the larger tables, flanked by three boys and a girl about her age. The one with silver hair immediately starts glaring, while the girl and the black hair boy tense up – they're smiling, but those are not happy eyes. The final boy, the brunet, looks exhausted, and just a little bit terrified. But he's also the closest to Chrome, and Chiyo's pretty sure he's holding her hand underneath the table.

After Yamamoto locks the door, he turns his attention to the group.

"Okay, everyone but Chrome, upstairs."

This is not a popular decision judging from the outcry, but it immediately cuts off when Chrome lifts her head.

"Please listen to him" she insists, cutting through the arguments. "I appreciate it, but I can do this alone."

Oddly enough, everyone then glances at the brunet at her side, who only has eyes for the girl. He stares at her with concern, before seeing something in her expression, and giving a slow nod.

"...Okay," he says. "We'll be right up stairs if you need us."

Chrome smiles, and the group – however reluctantly – step away and head for the stairs, the silver haired one glowering at the heroes up until he's out of sight. The brunet – Chiyo thinks he's the one called Tsuna? - waits until his siblings have headed up, before glancing one back time at Chrome, looking a little helpless. Chrome immediately smiles, and gives a minute shake of her head.

"It's okay Tsuna" she insists. "I've got this."

"Are you sure?" he asks, only relaxing when the girl nods.

"I'll be fine. This is my choice."

She remains standing as the boy vanishes upstairs, and slowly makes her way towards the group.

"It's good to see you again Ms Shuzenji" she greets, though Chiyo's fairly certain it's only obligatory. "And you too Yagi, Yamada."

Both of them give a short wave.

"I'm glad to see you're doing well, Miss Chrome."

"Thanks for seeing us."

Yamamoto then glances over at Yamada, who still looks like someone has a gun to his head.

"Want to be anywhere else but here?" he asks, and the hero gives a helpless laugh.

"I just don't want to get yelled at by the brats again. Gokudera's screaming is a lot less entertaining when Sasagawa's backing him."

Yamamoto's lip twitches.

"Well how about you handle a little more yelling?" he asks. "Go upstairs and distract the boys for me. Takeshi and Tsuna's English grade was abysmal – show them what they did wrong, and get Gokudera angry enough to forget what's happening down here."

Yamada's face lights up, and he snaps a pair of finger guns at the chef.

"Done, and done!" he promises, immediately bolting for the stairs. Chiyo bites back a smile as she exchanges glances with a sheepish Yagi, and move to sit down as the chef and his ward return to the table.

"I'm not really sure why you wanted to speak to me," Chrome begins, eyes glued to the table. "Ever since I helped All Might, Yamada keeps asking me about my quirk, but I'm not interested in being a hero."

"To be honest, that's primarily the interest" Chiyo explains. "Your quirk is quite exceptional. I find it hard to believe that none of your teachers ever encouraged you to consider it – they must have seen the potential during quirk appraisal classes."

Yamamoto's eyes quickly flick over to the girl, who has panic flash over her face for a brief moment. Had Chiyo not been so experienced in reading teens, she might even have missed it.

"No" Chrome finally says. "No one ever really expected much from me."

Yagi leans back in surprise.

"What? How can that be?"

Chrome glances away, cheeks red.

"My...quirk, is very new" she explains. "Before my, um, accident, I could only make small illusions, and none of them were tangible. I only learned I could create physical illusions after the accident. Before then, my power was almost nothing. Nobody would have realised it's potential."

Yagi looks ridiculously relieved at the information, but Chiyo frowns. While it would certainly make the lack of attention towards Chrome's quirk more understandable...

"Then, how did you learn?"

Chrome's smiles, eyes fading as she remembers something fond.

"Someone...someone very important showed me what to do" she explains. "His name was Mukuro. He had a very similar quirk to me, supported my organs until I was strong enough to do it on my own. I owe them...everything."

"Where are they now?" Yagi asks, and Chrome gives a sad grin.

"Off trying to achieve his own dream. He could have come with us, but honestly, a quiet life like ours would probably have driven him insane."

"-er" Yamamoto whispers, and makes a point to avoid Chrome's eyes when she turns to glare at him.

"Well, no matter how new it is, you certainly seem to have exceptional control over it" Chiyo compliments. "You must have worked hard to come this far so quickly."

Chrome sits a little straighter at that, which is something of a relief. This girl is not afraid or upset of her quirk, simply unused to getting compliments regarding it. "I would like to know why you haven't pursued a career where you can take that training to the next level?"

The girl's eyes flicker away, head moving slightly towards the staircase, then glance at her caretaker before returning to meet Chiyo's.

"I guess...because I didn't want to?" she explains. "I didn't want to leave the others any more than necessary."

Both Yagi and Chiyo lean back, staring at each other in confusion before returning to the conversation.

"Your...siblings?" Chiyo asks. "They wouldn't let you app-"

"NO!" Chrome yelps, face paling. "No, no, no! If I'd wanted to Bos-uh, Tsuna and, and Yamamoto and other Yamamoto and Gokudera, they'd have all supported me. They'd have been happy for me but...I..."

She's starting to twist her hands together, clearly uncomfortable, and Yamamoto leans forward.

"They've been through a lot together" he explains. "Going to separate schools wasn't something they were even considering, and none of them really considered quirk-based careers. Chrome didn't want to leave them behind. That's all."

The girl has relaxed, smiling in relief, and Chiyo feels grateful the man has stepped in. But she feels sorry for the girl. Life has clearly been cruel to her, to the point where she's terrified to step out of her comfort zone, and Chiyo has to at least _try_ to make her see-

"Do you understand how impressive your quirk is?" Chiyo asks again. "The strength and skill involved – I've seen illusion quirks, and construction quirks, and I must say, nothing comes close to what you can do."

Chrome blushes and looks down.

"Its...it's really not that special, _really_."

Chiyo scowls. "I don't know who told you that, but I assure you, they're wrong" she insists. "I might not understand the full mechanics, but I saw enough at the hospital to know your abilities could be revolutionary to a lot of people."

Chrome is still looking down, and Chiyo pushes forward.

"Your quirk, and the control you have despite minimal training, it could save lives" she says. "Offensive, defensive, supportive, with a few years of work, it could be phenomenal on the hero circuit. With some training, I can even see about transferring you into UA. It's unorthodox, but given the niche for your skill set, it would not be a difficult thing to-"

"No, thank you."

Chiyo cuts off as Chrome finally speaks, head lifting with the same conviction she'd had earlier.

"I understand what you're saying" she says. "And I understand that you feel I'm...wasting, this quirk. But please, I'm not interested in being a hero. At least, not the kind you want me to be."

"Chrome..." Yamamoto starts, trailing off when the girl shakes her head.

"It's okay Yamamoto" she says. "My mind was made up a long time ago. It's best that my power is only used on me."

"What makes you say that?" Yagi asks, breaking his silence of the last few minutes. Chrome seems almost relieved to turn her attention away.

"I can maintain my own organs because they're within me" Chrome explains. "And it was activated shortly after my accident. My body knows what everything is supposed to do and how to do it, so I don't really need to focus much on it. Doing things like I did with you...it's harder, and sometimes more dangerous than if I hadn't done anything."

Yamamoto's eyes are narrowing in a way that Chiyo doesn't quite like, but Chrome requires her full attention, and she files it for later inspection.

"How so?" She asks. "The way Toshinori explained it to me, you were able to replace all his injuries with fully functioning tissue and organs."

"Except I didn't _,_ " Chrome says. "I _substituted_ them. And I never got rid of the original organs."

Both heroes frown in confusion, and Chrome continues.

"Basically, my organs are gone, so when I'm using my quirk, I'm replacing something that isn't there, while I just hide the scars behind basic illusions. But in situations like that time with All Might, I'm overwriting what's already there. I didn't replace your organs or scar tissue, but give you an alternative to use."

Chrome shrugs. "Short term, that's not really an issue, but long term...when you ate, you'd use the 'healthy' stomach. When you fight, you'd use the 'healthy' muscles. You'd ignore the injured ones, despite the fact that they're the real organs. Eventually, you'd starve or collapse from muscle atrophy – I can't fix what's already damaged."

A double edged blade if Chiyo has ever heard one. A quirk that can make you healthy without actually curing you, and killing you even quicker for it. Although given how 'new' Chrome's quirk is, she wonders how she came about this information. Did her teacher explain it?

Or worse, does she know from experience?

Suddenly, Yagi's head snaps up, horror on his face.

"Wait, what about your own injuries?" Yagi asks. "If you're not overwriting the scar tissue and only replacing what's lost then-"

Chrome's eyes dim.

"It's tolerable" she tells him. "I'm used to the pain."

Which might be the single most horrifying thing Chiyo's heard in a very long time. Yagi doesn't look much better – Chrome might as well have socked the man straight in his own injury. His eyes flicker mindlessly, before focusing on the girls face.

"Is that why you haven't fixed your eye?" Yagi asks, staring at the eyepatch. "Are there scars we can't see that stop you from doing so?"

The girl unconsciously reaches for it before blushing and dropping her hand.

"No" she admits. "Eyes are...complicated. I'm an illusionist, which means I rely a lot on my sight. I _could_ create a fake eye, but then I'd be using an illusion to see, and that's dangerous. If I don't know that what I'm seeing is reality, I could lose my grip on it, and when that happens..."

Her hand spasms over her stomach, and Chiyo's own sinks at the unspoken conclusion.

"I see" Yagi says, clearly coming to the same conclusion. "Your gift has a heavy price."

"No quirk is a miracle cure all" she offers. "

"And with that said, I hope you can agree to drop the subject" Yamamoto finishes, turning his attention to Chiyo. "Chrome has made her case clear."

She has, and while Chiyo expected the conclusion from the start, it's still disappointing to know the girl's will remain in obscurity. A choice she is well in her rights to make – especially if she's in constant pain even while using it on herself.

"Thank you for being willing to talk to me" Chiyo offers. "I'll drop the subject of hero studies, but I still like to speak to you again, if only to see if there's something I can do to help with the current injuries."

Chrome perks up at that.

"Thank you. I doubt you can help but, it would be...good, to maybe try more treatment. Can I ask though? Why were you so interested in me?"

Chiyo smiles.

"It's not often a quirk with such medical potential crosses my path these days" she explains. "The preference has moved to flashy and offensive abilities. To find someone who can heal and pass the entrance exam is almost impossible. Even less so someone that can make enough of an impact at the sports festival for a transfer. You were the first person I'd met whose quirk could even come close to becoming medical aid for hero work. Otherwise, it would require a quirk that made someone a medical _tank_. And how often am I likely to run into that?

The door of Takesushi slams open, and a tall teen with white hair strides in, dripping with sweat and grinning like a madman.

"Good evening to the extreme!" he announces, and Tsuyoshi gestures in his direction.

"Evening Ryohei" he says. "Can you head upstairs? We're almost done here."

The teen frowns, glancing at the sombre atmosphere. Whatever he sees however, is enough to make him back away, nodding and heading towards the door. Yamamoto then glances over at Chrome, who nods and stands up from the table.

"Thank you for understanding" she says. "I look forward to seeing you again."

It's a little rushed, and her face looks a tad panicked, but the emotion sounds far more honest than the girl had been at the start of the conversation. She follows the older boy upstairs, and leaves the adults at the table in silence.

"So, did you mean what you said?" Yamamoto asks. "Or am I going to have more teachers trying to guilt my kids?"

"W-we weren't trying to-" Yagi splutters out, only for Yamamoto to talk over him.

"I know" he says. "But I've had enough circular conversations at Seirin to know people around here don't always listen if they don't hear what they want."

Chiyo can certainly believe that – Chrome has probably been chasing off more than her fair share of sports teams regarding her skills. Possibly more if the other teens are as strong and trying to stay under the radar.

"You never considered encouraging her to utilise her quirk?" she asks, genuinely curious – idly wondering what quirk the man in front of her has. "It's rare for this generation to be so against using them, or even considering it."

"I know foster children often have issues regarding quirk use," Yagi adds. "But, surely you knew that. Did their care workers not suggest you had an obligation to encourage-"

"I had an obligation to let that girl live a happy life" Yamamoto interrupts, eyes narrowing at the heroes, and the air tenses. "You have no idea what she's gone through, and you will not make her feel guilty for making her own decisions."

Yagi winces, and Chiyo shakes her own head. They really need to tread more lightly here – while Chrome might have been willing to listen, Yamamoto clearly came to this conversation ready for war.

"My kids are complicated" the man continues. "But more than mature enough to make their own decisions. They don't need their quirks, and I'm definitely not going to push them towards it. That would go against every reason for coming here. So, knowing this, where do we go from here?"

Chiyo sighs, and reaches for the bag she'd brought with her, pulling out a folder with a set of forms inside. She'd had these prepped almost since they day she'd met Chrome Dokuro. Essentially a peace offering no matter how the conversation went.

"Well first off we get her a conditional license that approves self-use so she can keep using her quirk on herself without getting into trouble" Recovery Girl says, gesturing to the title on the forms. "Technically speaking, using her quirk the way she is might be keeping her alive, but it's also breaking the law. If she was considering hero school it could be waived, but as a civilian, it'll keep...well, _this_ , from happening again."

The man's eyes widen, glancing between the papers and the woman in surprise, before he gives a short laugh, shoulders dropping in relief.

"Thank you. We never even thought to consider that."

Chiyo nods. "I'll make some calls and get the process started. I was quite surprised to find she didn't already have one...I don't suppose you know what back alley doctor let her get in that state?"

Yamamoto's eyes dimmed. "From what I've understood, it was less the doctor's fault and more her mother refusing to pay or authorise any treatments. She only survived because she found someone who could teach her to use her quirk in a more...unorthodox way that she'd considered."

There's a low growl coming from Recovery Girl's mouth, but otherwise she hides the anger away.

"I suppose it's too much to hope that woman got what was coming to here?"

"Oh don't get me started" Yamamoto scoffs. "There were conversations. But Chrome shut them down. As far as she's concerned that woman doesn't even merit revenge. She means as much to Chrome as Chrome means to her. And believe me when I say Chrome got the better part of that deal."

Chiyo frowns. "She should still be charged with parental neglect."

Yamamoto just shrugs. "At this point, it would be pointless. You'd never find her, and Chrome doesn't want the publicity. It's her decision at the end of the day."

Chiyo really doesn't like the idea of letting a woman who could abandon her child like that get away with no punishment, but it's clear Yamamoto won't give up a name. And since Chrome's record is spotty at best (runaway, Chiyo's mind surmises), it would be almost impossible to find her without the girl's cooperation. Perhaps, after a few sessions to help the girl with her injuries, she'll be willing to tell Chiyo more. Best not to push these things any more than she has too.

* * *

"He's a good man, that Yamamoto" Chiyo offers as they leave the restaurant with a very relieved Yamada, armed with a container of sushi.

"I've been telling you that for weeks" the blond laughs, hoisting the box under his arm. "Those kids will go to war for him as much as they would each other."

Yagi chuckles. "I'm just relieved to learn Chrome's quirk became stronger later in life. I did have worries considering how unknown it was."

Yamada frowns. "Huh. You know, Tsuna's quirk came in late too. I remember him telling me that's why he wasn't in the clubs."

"Really?" Yagi asks.

"Yeah...and Yamamoto's biological kid plays on the non-quirk team. He says he's not used to using it in games. Never actually said, but I think he mentioned not having it at elementary...and Gokudera fights without it completely..."

The three hesitate in the street.

"...At least four of them don't like using their quirks or developed them late?" Chiyo asks. "That's very odd."

"Kyoko's quirkless too" Yagi says, frowning at the knowledge.

"To be fair, they're fosters" Yamada offers. "Maybe that's why they became so close? It does happen, and delayed quirks are hardly the oddest things to bond over."

"Perhaps" Chiyo agrees.

But it does seem odd.

"What is Yamamoto's quirk?" she asks, and Yamada frowns.

"You know, I don't think he's ever mentioned it" he replies. "I know all the kids bar Kyoko have some pretty impressive ones, but I think I've only ever seen Fuuta and Chrome using them."

"Not even accidentally?" Chiyo asks. Powerful quirks, that _teenagers_ of all things, don't use, even accidentally? Even after coming into them late?

Yamada offers up something regarding Tsuna and his eye colour, but Chiyo barely hears it, too deep in thought.

There is something _very_ odd going on with the residents of Takesushi.

* * *

I am never writing a Chiyo chapter again, she is HARD! T_T

And I admit I nabbed the term 'medical tank' from PixilatedPocky in the comments. It was too perfect for Ryohei not too!


	10. Nezu

_Yeah...I had a lot of fun with this one ^_^_

* * *

It might surprise some people, but Nezu has always enjoyed wandering outside UA and seeing the city.

True, on the grounds of UA he has almost total control and free reign, but there's something truly vindicating about being able to wander throughout humanity and bask in the double takes and reactions. Watch them stare at an animal achieving a dream held by all humans, and is now in control of young human's futures regarding said dream. It's just not worth it if he can't go out and shove it in societies face.

Today, he's meandering in the streets before school, when he reaches a local park and does his own double take at a cat stretching on a bench.

Now, cats are hardly an odd thing to see, but there's no denying that the cat appears to have _fire_ coming out of its ears.

He cannot be blamed for being curious – it's practically his civic duty to investigate.

The cat at least, seems fairly disinterested in it's audience, shifting into a sitting position and watching Nedzu with a bland expression. It's – no wait, she, is a rather fetching creature. Mostly cream with several large spotted patches that remind him of a leopard (some kind of hybrid perhaps?) and huge ruby-red eyes, that match the colour of the flames flickering out of the large ears and around the fluffy paws. Since she's not also writhing in plain, it's safe to say this isn't a case of animal cruelty.

But most mysteriously, the feline has a large stone embedded in her forehead.

If he'd had any doubts before, they're gone now. This animal is one of the extremely rare few to have developed a quirk.

"Well now" he says. "I wonder if its nice to meet you?"

The cat cocks her head, and then stretches it out. Slowly, he reaches out at paw, and tentatively scratches under her chin.

It's probably safe to say the cat's quirk is not intelligence based – although every animal with a quirk is almost always more intelligent than the rest of their species – but where exactly this cat came from is a mystery.

Since animals (outside of him at least) can't be expected to uphold human laws, quirk animals are far more restricted. Already an exceptionally rare thing to see in the first place - you very rarely see them outside of high profile zoos, science labs (though not for long if Nezu gets wind of it), or very rich or influential members of society having them as pets. A quirk-cat certainly shouldn't be wandering the streets alone.

The cat apparently, seems to agree; because when Nezu draws his hand back, the cat shuffles on her feet, and leaps onto his head.

"Ack!" he squawks, flailing and waving his arms as he handled to extra weight. The cat apparently didn't care, padding her paws into his fur before choosing to settle down between his ears.

For a moment, he freezes, eyes flitting around to make absolutely certain nobody had seen that embarrassing little moment, before sighing and heading back.

Well, at least this saves the problem of getting the feline back to UA to check up on her registration…

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the cat is happily lapping up some lukewarm tea while Nezu runs a microchip scanner along her neck and back. All quirk animals are required by law to be chipped – although he personally had his removed after a lengthy court case. It's about the only scar he is proud to have.

He can't say he's surprised to find the cat doesn't register. There would have been alerts about a registered animal going missing, so...Hyo, he'll call her Hyo for now, must be unregistered.

Right on time, there's a knock on the door, and both Chiyo and Aizawa walk in.

"Morning Nezu" Chiyo greets, setting a laptop on a low table. "You needed me for somethi-"

"That kitten is on fire" Aizawa gapes, eyes wide, and Nezu frowns.

"Kitten? This is clearly a cat."

Not to his surprise, Aizawa's barely paying attention, idly shaking his head as he approaches the feline. Hyo pops her head up to glance at the man, and happily ducks her head under Aizawa's eager hand.

"She's big, but she's definitely a kitten" Aizawa insists. "Her fur is far too soft, and look at those paws. Hasn't even started growing into them yet."

He grin gets even wider as he sits in a nearby chair, and Hyo jumps into his lap, happy for the attention. "Hey gorgeous, where did you come from?"

Now that Aizawa's pointed it out, the cat's youth is obvious, and Nezu feels himself frown. He can't believe he of all people got swindled by size.

Chiyo on the other hand, just smiles at the scene before glancing over at Nezu, who has grabbed a cup of tea to hide his annoyance.

"Well, I can see why you wanted Aizawa here, but why am I?"

Nezu huffs, but decides that revelation does perhaps clear up one thing.

"I needed your medical expertise" Nezu explains. "This lovely lady-"

He gestures towards the kitten who is happily basking in Aizawa's attention. "Was in one of the local parks without an escort. Given that she's clearly blessed with a quirk, that seemed highly suspect, and I brought her here. I've been calling her Hyo for now."

"Hyo" Aizawa repeats. "That's very fitting, isn't it Hyo? Yes it is, yes it is."

He scratches her forehead, just above the stone, and the cat yowls, shaking his hands off to stretch. Nezu can't blame her – Aizawa using baby talk is in fact one of the most unnerving things he's ever seen. And he's seen a lot.

"Ahh" Chiyo says, nodding in understanding. "She's unregistered. You want to get her microchipped and on the system."

"If you wouldn't mind assisting" Nezu agreed. "And then we can work on finding her owner. I originally thought she might have been the pet of a criminal given the lack of chip, but since Aizawa is probably correct about her age, she might have just recently come into it."

"If she doesn't have one, can we keep her?" Aizawa asks, dragging his eyes away from his prize. "I can make it a class project. Teach them responsibility."

"You'd really let that poor little creature be at the mercy of your class?" Chiyo jokes, and Aizawa frowns.

"Good point."

He lifts Hyo up to his eyes. "We'll get you home, but I promise if they're not suitable, we'll find you a much better one. Does that sound good?."

Hyo just starts writhing, and Aizawa brings her back to his chest, where she immediately digs into his scarf to settle. The grin on the hero's face is a whole new level of creepy.

"Okay then, let's get started" Nezu says, walking to his desk and pulling out the chip gun and handing it to Chiyo.

"You couldn't have done this yourself?" Chiyo asks, activating the device while Aizawa coaxed the kitten into his arms. "I know you know how to do it. You just need medical personnel for the registration."

"Despite what Sunday morning cartoons will tell you, I don't take enjoyment in tormenting cats" Nezu offers with a smile. Chiyo huffs.

"You mean, if she takes offence at the microscopic iota of pain she might feel, you want her angry at the humans instead of you?" she translates. Nezu just grins and picks up his tea cup again.

Hyo struggles a bit in the hold as Chiyo approaches, but with practised ease, the woman slips in and places the gun at the cats neck.

"Here we go."

"MRAOW!"

Hyo immediately starts hissing and clawing up Aizawa's chest. The hero happily lets her dig back into his scarf while Chiyo hands the device back to Nezu.

"Okay, that's her chipped, let's get her registered" she says, sitting down and opening up the laptop. "I'm guessing we'll be relatively vague until she's thoroughly tested? Unless you recognise the breed Aizawa."

The man frowns, though one hand is deep in his scarf where the Hyo is hiding. "Afraid not. Pretty sure she's probably a cross-breed. Definitely no pure domestic line; probably some kind of Savannah Cat?"

"We'll go with 'hybrid' until we can test genetics" Chiyo says. "And what do we know about her quirk?"

"Not much I'm afraid" Nezu replies. "I didn't want to test it out in public."

"The fire isn't actually fire" Aizawa notes. "I've been holding her for the past five minutes and nothing's burned. It could be illusionary, or some kind of aura."

"We can certainly test for it" Chiyo agrees. "Now, she's clearly happy where she is, but we do need to make sure the chip is working, so if you could coax her out?"

Hyo is very unhappy to be pried from her nest, and Aizawa looks genuinely distressed to set her down on the table, so Nezu tries to distract her with another cup up tea while Chiyo runs the scanner.

A minute later, all three of them are frowning, because while Chiyo is scanning every inch of the stressed kitten's neck, no chip is being picked up whatsoever.

"Chiyo?"

"It makes no sense" she mutters. "I checked the chip myself. It was brand new."

"Could it have been defective?" Aizawa offers, and Chiyo starts glaring at the scanner.

"It must have been. I'm going to have to have words with the suppliers. Those chips are supposed to handle everything from natural disasters to hero level quirks."

Nezu sighs, and idly scratches one of Hyo's ears.

"Sorry little lady, but I'm afraid you'll have to tolerate us once more."

Unfortunately, Hyo seems to remember what the gun did last time, because she absolutely no interest in complying. They have to physically hold her down to implant the chip this time, and Nezu mentally writes off the table when he gets a look at the impressive claw marks the kitten managed to wedge into the varnish. Which makes it even more frustrating when the scanner _still_ doesn't pick up the chip.

"I don't understand!" Chiyo huffs as she drops the scanner. "Two malfunctioning in a row should be impossible, it must be quirk related. The fire must have some effect on electrical items."

Nezu nods and glances at the fire burning in the cats ears and paws. It's a rather strange side effect, but hardly the weirdest. Although…

"Those flames are significantly lower than they were when we met" he says, leaning down to look at the kitten. In the park, the flames had almost flared out of Hyo's ears, but now, he can barely see them poking out.

"She must have activated her quirk when the chips were implanted" Aizawa theorises. "Perhaps the flames are an indicator of how long it can be activated?"

"In which case, it would be prudent to wait for the flames to go out before attempting another implant" Chiyo states, stepping back and glancing at Aizawa. The hero nods in understanding, and his eyes flash red.

However, rather than vanish, the flames remain where they are, while Hyo cocks her head and reaches out a paw for the flying hair strands. Aizawa immediately deactivates his quirk and frowns.

"No effect."

Nezu starts grinning.

"How fascinating" he says. "Some kind of mutation that appears as an emitter but doesn't follow the same rules? That's exceptionally rare. I don't think any animal has been registered with such a complicated quirk."

"If it can't be deactivated, it's entirely possible the flames will never extinguish" Aizawa warns him. "We might want to consider registration in the form of a collar, at least until we better understand her quirk."

And while Nezu loathes physical tokens of ownership, the lovely Hyo isn't giving them much option.

"Very well" he says. "I'm sure the Support Department can whip up something temporary. I'll go speak to Power Loader."

He glances down at the cat, and waves a stubby finger.

"Now, don't get up to too much trouble while I'm gone" he says. "If you behave, I'll even see if Lunch Rush can whip you up something a little more healthy than tea."

Hyo just yowls, jumping off the table and starting to slink around the chairs. Aizawa is loathe to leave, but Chiyo yanks him out, reminding him that classes will be starting in a matter of minutes, and reminding him that the cat will still be here this afternoon. Nezu follows, stopping as he closes the door to see Hyo jump onto the windowsill, pawing at the glass.

It doesn't stop him from closing and locking the door though – that window pane is locked with a fingerprint lock and reinforced to give anything short of All Might pause. He highly doubts the kitten will succeed.

Which makes everything just that little more embarrassing when he returns 30 minutes later, collar in one hand, steamed chicken in the other, to find a locked office utterly devoid of feline existence.

He checks, thoroughly, just to make sure the cat hasn't just found the perfect hiding spot. But despite the door and window being completely untouched, Hyo is gone.

Is it the traitor they've started to consider existing in UA? Or was this Hyo's still un-recognised quirk?

He moves to his desk, turning on his computer and switching to the security feeds and winding back to the moment he left the office. He sees himself walk out and lock the door, while Hyo paces on the window sill, looking agitated.

Five minutes in, she jumps down and circles the room.

Ten minutes, she jumps onto the chair that she'd shared with Aizawa and curled into a ball.

Thirteen minutes in…

Nezu's eyes widen as the flames he can only just register finally snuff out, leaving just a cream and spotted cat – who an instant second later, vanishes in a puff of red flame. It looks similar to a flash of magicians fire, or that last final second before a candle wick runs out.

He checks the chair again, but to no surprise, he can't even smell the faintest hint of smoke.

Eventually, he settles back down in his chair, and re-watches the feed from the second he brought the mysterious Hyo inside. Despite his frustrations, he can't resist the smile that crawls on his face.

"What a fascinating mystery this is. Who, or what are you, my curious little Hyo?"

* * *

The immediate theory put out once the rest of the staff are brought up to the speed, is spy. A theory that is almost immediately snuffed out by the fact that Hyo had done absolutely nothing spy-worthy. Even while locked up in a room with Nezu's computer right in front of her, she'd been more interested in pacing the room and getting attention.

Which leads to Present Mic leaning back in his chair in the staff room after the briefing and musing at the ceiling.

"What if you had it backwards?" he offers to Nezu and Aizawa. "Rather than a cat with a quirk, she was a quirk, that was a cat?"

"Interesting" Nezu offers. "State your case, Mic."

The blond grins and starts hanging of the back of his chair while Aizawa frowns from his slouch.

"Well, the kitten couldn't be tagged, and she vanished in a puff of flame, so maybe she wasn't as real as she looked. What if someone out there has a quirk that allows them to summon a fiery little kitten? Can't chip something that's not real."

Aizawa mumbles into his arms – something along the lines of 'best quirk ever,' but Nezu ignores it, nodding at Mic's analysis.

"It certainly holds water" he admits. "Especially considering Hyo's unique build, and the fact that she's still not been reported missing, or indeed reported at all. It can't hurt to check the quirk database and see if any quirks in the neighbourhood match up."

* * *

As it turns out, there _was_ a six year old about 3 miles away whose quirk did involve summoning animals, but he could only summon nearby animals and didn't recognise the photo of Hyo, so they were left at a dead end. After a week, Nezu was starting to think Hyo would remain an unsolved mystery...until he walked past a certain park and found the kitten stretching out on the see saw.

This time around, her flames were already dim, so he hastily lured her back to UA with a copious amount of hastily bought fish, and let her lounge in his lap while he attached the collar as tight as he dared it to go. After the first disappearance, Power Loader had also added a tracking device, and an extra quirk dampener to make sure the thing couldn't be removed too easily.

Hyo clearly didn't like it, immediately scratching at the band, but after a minute, gave up and jumped back onto the windowsill to paw the glass. She glares back at Nezu, who merely pours himself a cup of tea.

"Ready to leave so soon Hyo?" he asks. "We're just getting to know each other?"

Like before, the cat jumps down and prowls the room, before choosing the comfiest seat to lie in. As she had previously, when the flames in her ears finally snuff out, the kitten vanishes in a flash of red flame...and the collar drops to the cushion, devoid of cat, and looking as if someone had thrown it through a wood chipper. The edges almost looked as if they were rotted away.

It reminds Nezu a little of the damage the villain responsible for the USJ attack caused, but a thorough exam of the evidence quickly proves it's superficial. Thankfully – he didn't want to tell Aizawa his new favourite kitty really _was_ a spy. The hero would be _gutted_.

However, this inability to register the cat is becoming an issue. Perhaps it's time to try a more unconventional approach.

* * *

The third time Nezu runs into her, Hyo is found on the UA grounds themselves, making a pretty decent beeline for the office, and happily tucks into a fish while Nezu calls for Aizawa to bring a student to his office.

Five minutes later, the man walks in with Koda Koji, who at the sight of Hyo, has his face light up as if every birthday has come at once. He makes just as much a beeline as Aizawa first did, gaining Hyo's attention with a quick chin scratch as Aizawa explains the situation.

"Your quirk only works on animals, so just finding out if you can understand her will help immensely," he explains.

"We need to know where she keeps going," Nezu adds. "Is she an animal? is she a quirk?, just...whatever you can give us."

 _'I'll do whatever I can'_ Koda signs, and focus on the cat in front of him, whose eyes are narrowing. She's learned to suspect people in this room when they start concentrating on her. _'Do you know her name?'_

"We've been calling her Hyo," Nezu replies.

Hyo immediately yowls, and Koda nods.

 _'She says her name is Uri'_ he signs, and the heroes straighten.

"You can understand her?" Aizawa asks.

"So she _is_ an actual animal" Nezu summaries. "That's one mystery down."

And a million more added.

"How long have you had a quirk Uri?" Koda asks, and when Hyo – Uri, Nezu corrects himself, yowls again, Koda moves closer.

"Oh..." he says. "Um...a quirk is...Oh it's a special power than only you have? Like your fire. How long have you had that?"

This time, the cat offers a long growling purr, and Koda looks puzzled.

"What? I don't-that's...is that possible?"

"Koda?" Aizawa questions, and the boy flinches.

"Oh, um," he stutters, before raising his hands.

' _Uri says she doesn't have a quirk_ ' he signs. _"She says she's a 'box animal. They're animals that run on...'_

He pauses, and they frown.

"Run on what?" Nezu repeats.

Koda frowns.

 _'I don't...maybe it's a difference in translation. She's using a weird dialect that I haven't heard a cat use before. But I think she's saying...soul fire?'_

Aizawa glances up at Nezu, who just shrugs. It's not a term he's ever heard before. Uri is still making that weird growl-purr though, and Koda keeps signing.

 _'She says her soul fire comes from...this is definitely a translation issue but, from 'AngryYellingStray?' He takes care of her and feeds her soul fire.'_

"Angry, yelling, stray?" Aizawa repeats in confusion. Nezu however, vaguely remembers enough of 'before' to make the connection.

"Animals don't necessarily know their master's names" he tells the two. "AngryYellingStray is most likely her way of describing her owner."

"...That's not a very positive description" Aizawa says, face dark. Uri Hisses, and Koda flinches.

 _'Uri loves AngryYellingStray'_ he signs. _'He's never hurt her, and she'll claw up TiredSoftScarf if he tries to hurt him."_

Aizawa gives a slow blink, and Nezu has to bite down a smile at the description Uri has chosen for her most doting fan.

 _'AngryYellingStray is just angry at other people,'_ Koda translates. _'And he mostly yells at...LaughingBladeDogBird and YellingPunch. He was alone until ShriekingTinyLion took him into the pack?'_

Nezu barks a laugh.

"Well, I think it's safe to say we wont be getting any names out of this interrogation."

Uri, apparently bored with the conversation, gets to her feet and – after a quick dip under Koda's arm, makes a beeline for the window.

"Stop" Koda orders. "I want to ask a few more questions."

Nezu can feel the quirk echo in the room, and his fur bristles despite it not being aimed at him. To the surprise of all, Uri doesn't even hesitate, jumping for the window and giving them an arrogant glance.

"...Come back here?" Koda offers, with less force than the earlier command, and sinks as it has absolutely no effect. He turns to Aizawa in confusion.

' _I don't understand it'_ he signs. ' _I understood her perfectly. It **should** work.'_

"Which adds another layer to this mystery" Nezu agrees, because Koda's quirk is a two way street – he shouldn't be able to communicate with anything that isn't consider an animal, and as such shouldn't be immune to his command.

' _I guess while a 'box animal' is considered an animal, because they register as a quirk based life form, they're not under my quirk influence,'_ Koda signs, and Nezu walks to the window and their now frustrated guest. He grins down at the cat, watching the tail thrash as she paws the window.

"Fascinating" he says. "Our little Uri is quite the conundrum. We'll have to investigate further."

And with that, deactivates the lock and happily pushes the window open, and watches the cat leap from the second storey window.

Aizawa and Koda immediately lunge towards him, reaching Nezu in time to see the cat land and bolt across the grounds with the slightest issue.

"Why did you do that?" Koda wails. "She could have been hurt."

"She's a very intelligent creature" Nezu explains. "I highly doubt she would have jumped if she didn't know she could make the landing."

"Headmaster, you're not worried?" Aizawa asks, as Nezu makes his way back to his chair. "We have an unregistered quirk...box...animal...thing, running wild in the city, with no clue where she came from. Shouldn't we be containing her?"

"And we will be containing her how?" Nezu asks. "Until we learn more, it's best to encourage her to return of her own volition. She does seem to like entering the UA grounds since we've proved she can get food and attention here. As such, I see no need to be overly concerned – she'll return to us, in time."

Yes, allowing this...'box animal' free reign is by far the best option for now, Nezu thinks to himself. While Uri herself doesn't seem interested in causing harm, her existence cannot have been caused naturally – the strange term 'soul fire' lending more creed to that than anything. The more opportunities that arise to bring her to UA, the more chances they will have to discover precisely who AngryYellingStray is.

And possibly lead them to the other box animals. Koda didn't translate 'box cat,' which means there are more than Uri's out there. At least some kind of dog (and or, bird), and a lion, if Uri's description of her owner's colleagues ring true. And if someone is experimenting or creating quirk animals, Nezu has every intention of being on the front lines when they find out exactly _where_...

* * *

Meanwhile, in a restaurant a few blocks away.

"Goddammit Uri! Stop running away when I summon you!"


	11. Shigaraki

_...And here comes the plot with all the subtlety of a brick. Think I'm probably going to have to give up on the POV's eventually too, they might start to get limiting..._

* * *

Shigaraki hates this time of year. It's bad enough to live in a world where heroes are everywhere and seen as the pinnacle of society, why does he have to live through a day of publicly celebrating rookie would-be's in the process?

The UA Sport's Festival is just another one of life's frustrating subplots that has no value, and for the life of him, he can't understand the appeal for the common folk. Tonight he'll be re-watching the events in detail with commentary from their informants to find weak links or possible blind spots, but other than the profit the League can make from heavy under-the-table betting, such a blatant display of hero worship disgusts him.

However, much like root canal surgery or the cleaning of a septic tank, even the worst things in life have a purpose. Today, just about every big name in Musutafu is over at the school, gawping at baby heroes trying desperately to make a name for themself, leaving the streets in the hands of overworked interns or the genuinely devoted hero.

It's a well known fact in the city – if anyone is going to commit a crime, they'll likely try today. There's just too much ground for the backup to cover - and the police force go through more quirk-use violations within their own ranks during the festival than they do all year.

It also means that UA's own little neighbourhood is lacking it's usual faces, and Shigaraki can step inside a hero haunt without any fear at all.

Takesushi immediately endears itself to him by not having a single television screen blaring. Most restaurants open today have at least one screen airing the spectacle, which is probably why it's so quiet compared to other buildings in the area. He can see the chef preparing something at an empty counter, and there's a short brunet teen carrying something from a fridge and working out of sight in the kitchen.

As for other customers, he spots Kurogiri at a table, picking delicately at a few plates, and there's an elderly couple by the window. He eyes up his options, and picks a small table just to the side of Kurogiri, keeping him at his back and the exit in his sights.

"Where is she?" he murmurs, just loud enough that his ally can hear.

"Shift change. Just swapped with the other girl," Kurogiri replies, popping a piece of sushi into his mouth. "She'll be out in a moment."

As if summoned by their conversation, Shigaraki's target walks out of the kitchen, dressed in a simple navy dress and white apron; carrying a simple platter to the couple by the window. He grins, scratching at his neck in anticipation.

Once her current table is seen to, the waitress walks over, not batting an eye at the man sitting with his hood up. Working in such a hero-filled area has probably dulled her reactions for anyone out of the ordinary by this point.

"Welcome to Takesushi," she says. "My name is Chrome, and I'll be your waitress today. Can I get you a drink?"

She's so poised and polished, Shigaraki almost wants to dig his fingers into her neck and squeeze. But he holds back – the information they've gathered on this young woman suggests that this is all an act - she's a broken monster that learned how to hide it. That's something he needs right now, badly. The failed attack on All Might had brutalised their numbers to a measurable extent. He needs more party members, and this Chrome is exactly what he needs – quality over quantity.

As he throws out a random drink order, the door opens, two more customers entering and taking a seat at the table nearest to the door, and Chrome quickly greets them before heading away.

"Is she the only one in?" Shigaraki says, scratching at the table. Kurogiri shakes his head.

"No. One girl and at least two other teenagers upstairs, and the teen in the kitchen helping the chef," he lists.

"But none of them are receiving quirk training?" Shigaraki confirms, and smiles when Kurogiri nods. Perfect – then they'll be no issue at all.

* * *

Shigaraki timed this attempt as well as he could. They need to have interacted enough with the girl for her guard to be down, and to start their recruitment pitch right before the first year final matches take place. It's always the most highly watched event, even tipping out the third year's just due to the complete insanity that always gets churned out with new names. Everyone will be getting off the streets and avoiding trouble just to make sure they have a good seat. If anything goes wrong, the delay before any kind of dangerous force arrives will be at its longest.

Unfortunately, that also means laying low till then, and he's never been a fan of sushi. He finds himself picking at it, mentally noting to get something a lot more cooked for dinner.

At long last, the planned time finally ticks over on his phone, and he gestures for Chrome to walk over.

"It's quiet," he says to the girl as she wanders over to collect his empty plates. "Why don't you sit down for a bit? I'd love to chat."

Chrome gives a classic waitress smile. "Sorry, but I can't really stop when I'm working."

Shigaraki smiles. "Come on, nobody will notice if you rest for a few minutes. Love to know why someone your age isn't glued to the TV today."

Chrome's smile shifts into something slightly more genuine, and Shigaraki intentionally moves his head to look at the duo by the door.

"They're not going to need help for a bit," he notes, the two focused completely on the dish in front of them, and then turns his head over to Kurogiri, who has paid but is calmly sipping green tea. "What about you?" he asks with a grin, and his partner merely gestures with his cup.

Chrome steals a glance over at couple in the booth, and then over at the kitchen, but to Shigaraki's delight, the chef nods at her, and she happily takes the excuse and sits down.

"So, I ask again," he says, leaning forward, chin on his knuckles. "Why aren't you watching all the future heroes in your age group show off?"

Chrome rolls her eyes, though there's still something of a smile on her face. "It's not really my thing," she explains. "My brother's and sister all know someone competing, so they wanted to watch. I've never really cared about heroes, and someone needed to work today, so Tsuna and I volunteered."

Her head glances towards the kitchen, and Shigaraki mentally notes that 'Tsuna' must be the brunet he's caught sight of a few times. The boy is surprisingly clumsy for someone trusted in the kitchen judging from some of the sounds he's heard, but the chef's unintelligible comments have been more indulgent than angry.

He fights down the urge to scratch his skin at how domestic it all is. This is a foster situation – while he's never known the horror, half the former League of Villains were card-carrying members of Japan's orphan and foster systems – which really says all anyone needs to know.

'Focus Tomura' he thinks to himself. 'We have a job to do here. And she's already given you the perfect opening'

"Not a fan of heroes, hmm?" he says, and Chrome pales, hands waving as she gives a nervous laugh.

"No, I mean-it's not like I _don't_ like them," she explains. "I just, I think it's all a little over the top, I guess. I'm not used to it being such a big deal, it wasn't really a thing where we lived before."

"It is a little over the top, isn't it," Shigaraki says with a genuine bark of laughter, and Chrome's shoulders relax completely.

"Yes," she says, clearly in relief. "It seems like it's all anyone can talk about sometimes. I mean, the way I understand it, they're meant to be public servants, but they're also kind of like idols? Yamamoto doesn't really get it either, but I guess it works here."

Shigaraki grins wider, dropping his arms to the table as he leans in.

"Does it?" he asks. "Or do we all just think that because that's what they want us to think?"

Her smile fades as little, and her head cocks slightly, but she's clearly waiting for him to explain, so he does.

"Heroes," he says, not longer trying to hide the disgust in his voice. "We're told to elevate them and put them on pedestals. They're the reason we have peace, why our society works. All Might is treated like a God among mere insects."

Chrome leans back slightly, but she isn't arguing, and Shigaraki grins.

"Nobody ever seems to asks if our society _truly_ works," he continues. "Without All Might, peace would crumble, and how strong can peace be if it relies on just one man. Because that's what he is, when all is said and done, a man. Wouldn't things be better heroes weren't even a thing? After all, how can you have heroes without villains?"

Chrome bites her lip and glances over to the stairs.

"Y-you should speak with Hayato," she says. "He's talked about this a little, but-"

"I'd rather talk to you," Shigaraki interrupts, though he notes that name down for future research. If his quirk is useful, maybe they'll return for a sequel. "In order for heroes to make sense, they have to have an enemy to fight. Which means some members of society must be pushed down in order to elevate the minority. And when that minority is so damn exclusive, the rest of us just get pushed around."

He leans back in his chair, taking in the now very suspicious waitress. Even with the eyepatch, she looks so unassuming. But Shigaraki's seen her medical files himself, given to him by his master in preparation for this very meeting. She's a walking example of how awful the world can be – carrying the evidence of her mistreatment around her, hidden only by her quirk. Abandoned and discarded, relying only on the abilities she managed to develop for herself. Shigaraki can respect the hell out of that.  
"You know all about that though, don't you Dokuro Chrome?" he says, and the girl flinches.

"...How did you know my full name?" she asks, hands clenching into fists.

"I know a lot about you," Shigaraki explains. "I know that your family threw you away when you needed them. That you're only alive because you learned how to make it on your own. No doctors or heroes, just your own force of will. You could do anything you wanted to if your truly wanted to with a quirk like yours."

Ah, there was anger. Good, he was getting ticked off at the quiet mouse act.

"Like I told the doctors, and the heroes, I'm not interested in using my quirk," she says. "For someone who agrees with me on society, I'm surprised you think that."

"Well, that can't really be true," Shigaraki mocks with a laugh. "Otherwise you would have left All Might to rot in that shopping district."

Her one eye widens in shock.

"I'll be honest, I would have preferred that," Shigaraki admits. "But I bet it hurt, having to rely on a civilian to his job. How scared he must be, to know how weak he's becoming. How quickly his precious 'peace' is coming to an end."

"How do you know about that?" she says with a hiss. "That...event, was meant to be confidential."

Shigaraki smiles. "We know lots of things. It comes with being someone society rejects. You understand all about that, don't you?"

To his delight, her eyes narrow, any fear vanishing in place of anger and wary apprehension. Good girl. "I think you should leave now," she warns.

"But you haven't even heard why I wanted to meet you so bad," Shigaraki mock whines, hand half reaching over towards her.

"Chrome!"

Both snap their heads up and glance over at the door of the kitchen. It's Tsuna, the boy that's been working in the kitchen. His eyes are awkwardly wide, and he looks terrified, as if he knows exactly who Chrome is sitting across from, despite having never once been in view of him, or close enough to hear the conversation.  
Clearly, his waitress sees it too, because Shigaraki can all but feel the girl tense up, chair shifting slowly across the ground so she's no longer in grabbing distance. In fact…

There's a rumble from above, and just out the corner of his eye, Shigaraki spots three teens all but throw themselves down the stairs, barely noticeable from his angle. One's carrying a wooden sword, while another is frantically wrapping tape round his wrists and the other-is that actual dynamite?

A casual glance back to the counter also reveals the chef lifting down a sword from above his work bench, hidden from customers view. He never once takes his eyes of Shigaraki.

Amazing, he thinks. One word from that teenager and the entire restaurant has gone from placid to hair trigger.

How did he know? Kurogiri was watching the kitchen to make certain they couldn't see or hear anything untoward. Some kind of clairvoyance quirk? Perhaps they should have paid more attention to the other quirks in the building.

"Tsuna," Chrome says, eyes flicking between the brown haired teen and Shigaraki. The boy looks like he wants to bolt out the door, but is quick to scuttle over to her, grabbing her shoulders as she stands up. The other trio are now in the kitchen doorway, looking tense.

"Get out," Tsuna tells them, voice impressively smooth. Shigaraki smiles.

"No," he says, and snaps his fingers.

Their future victims quickly snap their heads back as they hears seats being pushed away. The two customers by the door immediately stand - both grunts brought in by Kurogiri. One, a muscled man whose quirk creates a shield stand as Vanguard, blocking the exit. The other is a man who can fuse with metal, and he's standing by the shield's side, already flicking a butterfly knife between his fingers.

In the booth, the elderly couple move out, the illusion dropping to show a woman with a spider-like head and a man in Gothic garb. Slowly, heads turns back to him, and Shigaraki grins even wider.

"I work for, lets call it an independent party," Shigaraki says. "You're very interesting to us, Chrome. All that power and no interest in heroics? In fact, I'd say it's an almost dismissive opinion of them. My boss and I really think you could do great things with us. I'm sure if you hear us out, you'll see things our way."

"Boss?" Chrome whispers, and Shigaraki almost does a double take at the term. Is she already-

"Bad idea, Chrome" the teen behind her says, and Shigaraki frowns when he realises she was addressing _him_. "I don't know what he wants, but you can't go with him."

Whatever his reasoning, any hesitation Chrome might have had vanishes, eyes narrowing and clenching her fist.

"I want you to leave," she says. "And don't come back."

"You heard the lady," the chef says from the kitchen, and Shigaraki grimaces when he realises he's got a phone in his other hand.

"Pity," he growls. "We really wanted to do this civilised. Maybe once we show you how serious we are, you'll understand. We weren't _asking_."

And with that, he lunges for Chrome, hand outstretched. Tsuna's eyes widen, and he throws Chrome to the side, himself lunging to the opposite.

"Don't let him touch you with his fingers!" Tsuna yells, just before he hits the ground. Shigaraki would be impressed he figured that out so quickly, if five finger quirks weren't frustratingly common.

His attack however, unleashed the hounds. One of the men at the door – the grunt that can fuse his body with metal – slips his knife into his arm, creating into a short, sharp sword appendage and jumps over the counter, aiming for the chef.

To his credit, while the man swears and drops the phone, he immediately raises his sword to block the attack, and both vanish out of view in the kitchen. The other stays at the door – he can repel any physical attack with his shield so long as he sees it coming – to cut off any retreat. The fist fighter almost leaps over the fallen body of Tsuna to get to him, yelling 'Extreme defence!' and dropping something white and woollen on the brunets chest. He immediately tries to punch their guard, only for him to raise his arms – and a translucent shield form in front, protecting him for the hit.

Kurogiri stands, trying to slip past the others in order to reach Chrome – only to find his way blocked by the younger swordsman, the blade glowing blue and a smile on the teens face.

"Something tells me it would be very bad to let you move," he says. What he thinks he can do with a weapon against a man made of fog, Shigaraki doesn't know, but he's hardly worried.

Chrome has stumbled to her feet and stepped back, but putting distance between Shigaraki has put her in reach of their other allies, and she finds herself tag teamed by the illusionist and the spider. They were hired specifically for their quirks – she's a good match for the teen and he can spin sticky rope for restraint, so they'll have her pinned in no time.

Instead, he focuses on the teen on the ground. The one that caused the alarm in the first place; who Chrome calls 'boss.' How interesting. He must be important to her.

She'll probably be far more willing to listen after watching him crumble into dust.

The brunet is in a kneeling position when Shigaraki steps forward, reaching out to clamp a hand on the top of his skull.

"Don't you touch the Tenth!"

Before he can close the distance, something explodes right next to his shoulder, and he curses as he's blown back. His target is blown back too, making a high pitched squeal.

"Hiieee! Hayato!"

"Sorry Te-ah, Tsuna!"

Shigaraki hits the ground and rolls to his feet, smashing his hand on a table and letting it decay in frustration. The last teen – a silver haired punk – is already digging out another stick of dynamite, and Shigaraki is just a little baffled that a civilian would be carrying something like that on hand.

(Later, he'd realise that if he'd been less mad, this is when he should have realised something was up).

"You're in the way," Shigaraki growls, letting his focus transfer while Tsuna gets to his feet, picking up the random item his other sibling had dumped on him (a strange pair of mittens, and unless Tsuna is the bastard child of Best Jeanist, he doesn't see how that will help him). He's got time to take out bomb boy first.

Both of them however, are looking at the pile of dust that used to be a table beside him. Tsuna's eyes are starting to bleed a radioactive orange, while the punk makes a 'tch' sound and gives a vicious smirk.

"So that's your shtick, huh?" he says, and his fingers start glowing red. "I got this bastard Te-gah! I got this Tsuna! You help Chrome."

Tsuna nods, not an ounce of fear in his form now that his eyes have changed, and he moves away. Before Shigaraki can even think of stopping him, there's another bomb being thrown his way.

Like fuck is this asshole blowing him up again.

Instead, he lunges towards him, ducking under the flying projectile and reaching for the teen's neck. His eyes widen as Shigaraki avoids his attack, and his hands flare even brighter red as they rise up and catch both of his with open palms.

"Fuck!" he yelps, stepping back to brace himself as the taller man looms over him, trying to push him back. Shigaraki grins in anticipation, clamping his hands down on the glowing red hands, eager to see them crumble.

Except...they don't. And his grin falters when he finds himself trapped, hands locked against the silver haired teens in an awkward match of strength, his opponent recovering and pushing back – his red aura flickering with a yellow streak here and there.

He doesn't understand, his quirk is active! All five of his fingers are on this brat's hands. He can _see_ the skin trying to decay!

But then he catches sight of his own, and suddenly becomes aware of the pain in his fingertips. He curses, yanking his hands back and throwing himself backwards and half into a table. When he lifts his fingers to his eyes, he grits his teeth in anger.

On his hands, the outer skin looks shredded. Like his opponent somehow turned his own quirk back on him. When he looks up at the teen, he's staring him down with explosives in his hands, and while he's gratified to see something resembling decay on his hands, it's barely there – as if he'd managed to heal the worst of the damage. What the hell is this?

Behind him, there's a painful grunt, but its the sound of a window smashing that forces his head to turn.

What he sees blows his opponents quirk out of the water.

He'd known Chrome could make physical illusions, that was the whole interest. But it's one thing to hear about it, and another to see the girl summon some kind of tentacle vine that was currently choking their spider-woman in its grasp. She'd smashed a window with her webbing, desperately trying to escape, but having no luck whatsoever. Chrome is also wearing a smile that Shigaraki would find delightful, if it wasn't aimed at his own men, her hands clamped around a trident she _definitely_ didn't have on her a few minutes before.

By her side, Tsuna is dropping the illusionist to the ground, the man out cold. But he doesn't even look like the same teenager – his strange eyes are unnaturally focused, and there's a literal fireball on his forehead. The mittens are nowhere to be seen, but his hands are on fire, wrapped in strange leather gloves that seems unaffected by the flames.

"You okay Tsuna?" Chrome asks, eyes not leaving the man in her grasp as he gives a final few twitches. The teen just nods, glancing at the webbing now clumped on a table, and grabs a few pieces to wrap around his opponents wrists.

"Compared to Mukuro and Genkishi, he was nothing," he says, and then stands up to look at the fight at the door.

"Brother, status!" the brunet orders, as the fist fighter lands yet another punch, only for it to hit the repelling barrier. Judging from his hands, he's thrown more than a few.

"Stuck, to the Extreme!" he yells, frustration on his face. "I need to be faster to hit. Can I-"

"No!" Tsuna snaps. "Not without the rings. Takeshi!"

"Gottit!" the swordsman currently dancing around Kurogiri calls, and the blue flames on his blade triple in size. He ducks unto Kurogiri's attempt to grab him, and swings the sword like a batter in a game, sending the flames flying, and straight for Shigaraki.

"Incoming!" he yelps, ducking as the blue wave flies over his head. It travels across the room towards the door, and while he doesn't see the restaurant's fist fighter leap out of the way, he does hear their guard curse as it hits his repelling shield head on.

"Thanks to the Extreme! Takeshi!" his opponent yells, and when Shigaraki gets back up, his jaw drops as the boxer smashes one more punch towards their guard – and while the man tries to activate his shield again, it's noticeably slower than it should be. Instead of blocking, the man takes it full force with his quirk mid-activation, and goes flying through the door, smashing straight into the street.

The boxer fist pumps and roars in the delight, but Tsuna's bland expression doesn't change, his eyes merely turning towards the kitchen counter where they can heard blades clashing. The flames on his hands pulse, and he flies over the counter and into the other room to help the chef.

That's the point Shigaraki starts to to think they might have bitten off more than they can chew with this restaurant, and gets a sinking feeling when he glances over at his teleporting ally. Kurogiri should have been able to stop the teen for sending that sword wave, or at the very least sent it somewhere else.

Wait, now that he's looking, Kurogiri is definitely moving slower than he should be. There's a sluggishness that Shigaraki has never associated with the bartender, and he feels the hairs on his neck stand on end.

The teleporter is clearly coming to the same conclusion. "Dammit," he curses, watching the swordsman return his attention to him. "I thought you were just getting _faster_."

"Fuck...Kurogiri, get away from that sword!" he hisses. Kurogiri, for his part, risks taking his eyes off his opponent long enough to give him a look Shigaraki knows well.

"I'm trying," he snaps back, and Shigaraki grits his teeth. Whatever the sword brat's quirk is, it's slowing whoever he hits, and they can't afford to lose Kurogiri – he's their exit strategy.

"Swap!" he snaps, taking a risk and turning his back on his opponent even as dynamite is thrown again, focusing on the swordsman. That sword needs to _go_.

The swordsman, for his part, grimaces when he spots Shigaraki coming for him, and Kurogiri uses the distraction to – frustratingly slowly – transport himself to the other side of the room, cutting off the boxer who was heading back towards them.

The punk looks torn, unsure if he should pursue Shigaraki, or take out the only member he's has shown concern for. Though he starts grinning when they hear a thud – Chrome's finished playing with her prey and finally let her drop to the ground.

But before either of them make a decision, or the boxer can try to punch Kurogiri (and allow Kurogiri to transport him into the middle of a highway somewhere), they all hear a rumbling sound, and everyone throws themselves out of the way when a – Shigaraki isn't even sure how to _describe_ it – beam composed of orange fire bursts out from the kitchen, vaporising part of the restaurant counter, sending their fusion henchman flying out the front window at speed.

Moments later, Tsuna lands in the vaporised spot, while the chef stumbles out the kitchen door, favouring one leg but still holding his sword.

...Oh fuck all of this, Shigaraki thinks, and heads straight for the younger swordsman. He is taking out at least _one_ of these brats for this trouble.

Unfortunately, said brat doesn't want to play ball. He makes an impressive twist to avoid Shigaraki's arm and aims the flat of his blade at the back of Shigaraki's neck. He however, drops to the ground and kicks his leg out, forcing the boy to fall to one knee, bringing his head into grabbing distance. His eyes widen, swinging his sword to block Shigaraki's hand, but it's a pointless gesture. He's about to get that pretty face slapped right off.

At least, it would have been, except Shigaraki feels killing intent coming from his left and back-rolls away to keep the _chef's_ sword from removing his head from his shoulders.

"Don't you even think about it!" the chef snarls, yanking the sword out of the wooden floor. Shigaraki gulps when he notes just how deep into the flooring it went.

"Thanks Dad," the younger swordsman says, getting to his feet.

"Don't thank me, don't let it happen again," the Chef says, eyes focused on Shigaraki, who is getting to his feet in the centre of the room. Moments later, Kurogiri is at his back, as tense as he's ever been.

"Shigaraki, we need to go," he says, and Shigaraki scowls.

"No!" he yells. "I am not retreating from a bunch of civilians!"

Tsuna jumps from the counter, and Shigaraki gets even more pissed when he watches the punk step to the side while Tsuna moves towards them. He's watching the brunet with a slavish devotion that just makes him madder.

"Everyone okay?" Tsuna asks, not taking his eyes off his target. "How are your hands?"

Even though Tsuna isn't looking, the punk smiles like a toddler. "Nothing a few days wont cure! Better shape than Turf Top's at any rate."

"That was an extremely tough quirk!" the boxer roars, and Tsuna's shoulders relax minutely as he stands in front of the villains, just outside of grabbing distance.

"Careful," Chrome offers from behind them. "The mist one can teleport."

Tsuna nods, and glares at the two of them.

"We gave you a chance to leave," Tsuna says. "But that's before you damaged our home. You're going to surrender, and the police will arrest you when they arrive."

He's moving his hands strangely, but Shigaraki doesn't care. He steps forward, pointing a shaking hand.

"You and me, brat" he offers. "You got lucky, but I take on pros."

"Tomura!" Kurogiri growls, grabbing his shoulder in frustration. "Put that pride away."

To his dismay, the warper starts to activate his quirk, and Tsuna's eyes narrow.

"Not this time," he says, and he shoots forward, hands flung back as propulsion. Before Shigaraki can react, he's kicking Kurogiri straight on his metal collar. How he knew to aim there, Shigaraki doesn't know, but the teleporter crashes to the ground, and Tsuna sets one hand just above Kurogiri's own. Shigaraki's eyes widen in shock as from the fire, _ice_ comes forth, and starts to travel down the man's shirt sleeve.

"Kurogiri!" Shigaraki yells in warning, half spinning on his feet and slapping a hand on the ice, forcing Tsuna to jump back. To his astonishment, it stays in place, not so much as chipping despite all five digits touching.

Thankfully, while the ice wont disintegrate, it hasn't reached the floor, so Kurogiri can scramble to his feet and try to free himself, though he ends up shifting out of his shirt to do so, and to Shigaraki's astonishment, leaves a significant chunk of his black, misty shell clinging to the crystal where his hand was trapped.

It's a small comfort that even Tsuna and this group of insanity looks surprised at it too.

"Kurogiri, your hand..." Shigaraki starts.

"Numb, but okay," the warper assures him. "But whatever that is, it's not ice. It wasn't cold to touch."

He's right. Shigaraki hadn't realised till the man pointed it out, but his hand isn't numb after grabbing it. Instead it tingles, a feeling that doesn't quite encompass hot or cold, and the villain hasn't the slightest clue how to describe it.

But whatever it is, Shigaraki's quirk doesn't work on it, and Kurogiri can't escape it fully. This just went from frustrating to dangerous.

He risks glaring at Tsuna once again - those calm orange eyes just appraising both of them with a quiet ferocity. The group isn't even surrounding them any more – they've all drifted to his side, like loyal soldiers.

"Who are you people?" he asks Tsuna, the boy they've clustered round, because this isn't a civilian reaction, and that's not a civilian quirk. Fire? Ice? Possibly clairvoyance? How is this person an unknown? It doesn't make sense!

The teen however, seems oblivious to his breakdown.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," he answers, eyes narrow as he raises his hands – that beautiful, eerie flame building up once again.

"And this is my family – who nobody is going to touch. Ever. Again!"

Faintly, Shigaraki hears something light up in the background, accompanying a weird slithering sound and a holler of 'Extreme.' But before he can register any of them, Kurogiri is cursing, grabbing him by the waist and throwing him into his own black hole.

As he hits the ground of the bar, he dimly hears an explosion above their heads, as well as the sound of glass breaking, before Kurogiri shuts his quirk down. When they finally look up, it looks like a good chunk of the bar got blown away in the ricochet of whatever made it through with them.

For a few moments, they just lie there, trying to process the last few minutes. Eventually, Kurogiri starts to lift himself up.

"What. The. Fuck?" the warper growls. "Nobody mentioned anything about the others."

Shigaraki crawls out from under the man, hissing as the burns on his hands protest.

"Chrome Dokuro was supposed to be the main catch," he says. "She's the one who turned down a transfer."

Kurogiri huffs, warping away for a moment, only to return with a new shirt that he immediately starts changing into.

"Starting to think she's the only one who turned it down because she's the only one who drew attention," he says. "Every one of them had combat experience – they were ready to take us out."

"Underground heroes?" Shigaraki asks, fear stabbing his chest. But-no, that didn't make sense… Kurogiri is already shaking his head.

"You saw their eyes, the chef went for your head, and the one with explosives was ready to kill," he replies. "Wherever they were trained, it wasn't for heroics. Not even close."

Shigaraki leans back on the bar, and smiles.

Now that he's out of the firing line and given space to think about what happened, its more interesting than aggravating. An entire family of - for lack of better term - hero level quirks, and not a one even looking at applying. The way they acted, and the things they said or let slip, do not suggest a fully legal life.

He'd gone looking for a party member and found a whole guild to play with. All he has to do is figure out how, and the League could have a major boost.  
They'd overplayed their hand this time, Shigaraki can admit that. It hadn't occurred to them to check any of the other quirks in the building when Chrome was clearly the prize catch. Now there will be extra security, but he can wait. He just needs a bit more information before he tries again.

* * *

It really takes far too long for Kurogiri to get the files from the quirk registry, but when he finally shows up, Shigaraki all but yanks them from his hands, jumping onto the couch to spread them out of the table. Who are these people, and why is Shigaraki only learning about them now?

Astonishingly, not a single one has any red flags or warnings by their name for illegal quirk use. Most people end up with at least one citation when training their quirk, so how did they get that proficient while staying under the radar?

He's still mulling it over as he reads over the descriptions. He'd thought the punk might have some kind of repel or reversal quirk, but it turns out to be far more basic. It'sDisintegration, with a lot of similarities to his Decay, which might explain why his own quirk didn't work – they cancelled the worst of each other out? He doesn't like the idea of a copy joining his ranks, but it did mean he could delegate more if he did.

The sword boy has something called Tranquil Aura? Sounds lame but clearly the sword boy knew how to use it. That would be great for slowing down all those heroes that so laud their reaction times. The boxer is a less interesting, with some kind of stat booster called Extreme Activation? Pretty dull but it never hurts to have extra muscle. They're definitely lacking right now thanks to this little group.  
Illusional Construction they knew about, and while the boy with Ranking never appeared, Shigaraki could definitely see the appeal of getting that in the ranks. It could be great for information retrieval.

He frowns as he shuffles past and finds only one more page. While he never saw her, Kurogiri made it clear there was another girl at the restaurant, but neither she or the chef's quirk's have been included. Did they get missed out? Kurogiri's not known for sloppy work. He'll have to double check with him later.

Regardless, he pushes them all to the side and lifts up the brief form regarding one Sawada Tsunayoshi. Who has some kind of sixth sense, along with fire and ice that aren't really fire and ice. Just what kind of chimera mutation of a quirk causes that? Is he some bastard child of Endeavour or something?

He reads the quirk's title and frowns.

Harmonisation. What on earth does that-

Shigaraki stills, reading the description three times before allowing it to register, and jumps to his feet, heading straight for the back room in order to make a call.

Forget recruiting for now. Sensei needs to know about this. _Immediately_.

* * *

 _Took way too long to find something that felt enough like pre-Kamino Ward Shigaraki considering he's basically getting humiliated throughout this. He's a hard character to grasp._


	12. Tsukauchi

It's pure chaos when Naomasa Tsukauchi arrives at Takesushi. The crowds outside the police tape are intense considering a certain sports festival isn't over yet, and he has to push through, heading towards the patrol cars and ambulance at the side. The street is a mess, with glass everywhere. The restaurant isn't much better; one of the windows has been smashed out, and the door is lying on the tarmac, with something that looks like blood smeared on the side.

Naomasa hasn't even stepped inside the restaurant yet and he already knows he'll be doing overtime tonight. There's an officer standing guard at the entrance, and he quickly walks over, nodding in greeting.

"Detective Tsukauchi," the man greets. "Thanks for coming so fast."

"How bad are the injuries?" he asks. "Any victims?"

He really hopes not. Yagi's a regular here, along with most of the school. If anyone has fallen when they weren't there to stop it, well…

Good men have broken over less. Especially when he knows most of the staff are teens.

To his surprise, the officer shakes his head.

"Not a one, if you can believe it," he says. "Only serious injuries were inflicted on the villains. Chef got a little banged up, but it's mostly superficial damage for the kids."

"Wait, I thought they were attacked by the League of Villains," Naomasa says. That's the whole reason he was called in.

The officer shrugged and smiled.

"That's the thing, they _were_. We've got four medium rate villains in custody, all of which definitely came out the fight the losers. Security cameras outside already confirmed that both villains known as Shigaraki and Kurogiri walked inside, although it looks like they used the warp quirk to get out."

Shigaraki was here. Correction, Shigaraki was here _with enforcements_ , and he'd had to retreat? Without taking out a single one of his opponents?

"Was there a hero on site?" he asks, eyes widening when the officer shakes his head. "A hero in training then...no, they would have been at school."

"I know, it sounds crazy, but they fought them off themselves," the officer replies. "Can't say I'm too surprised given that Gokudera lives here, but while I'm no expert, they're definitely hiding something."

"Gokudera?"

The officer shudders. "When you've got your statements, drop by our station. There's a whole file on that brat. Would not surprise me if he's the one they came for at this point."

"He's a villain?" Tsukauchi asks, rather surprised considering the restaurant's reputation.

"No," the officer growls. "He's too damn smart for that. Brains, attitude, and a problem with authority. He's going to be terrifying when he graduates."

Tsukauchi frowns, but walks inside with the warning ringing in his head. The restaurant is a mess, chair and tables hastily pushed to the side to allow people in, and broken glass everywhere. There's a medic tending to a man in chef whites, while a dark haired and fluffy brown teen hover over him protectively. Sitting in a booth, there's a teenage girl with her arms around a white haired teen's shoulders, while a medic looks over his hands. On the opposite side of the booth, a silver haired teen is getting the same treatment, although his medic is wrapping his hands up.

Tsukauchi takes note of the flayed skin and makes a note to speak to that one first. It's safe to say he took the brunt of Shigaraki's anger.

Over in the corner, talking to Officer Tamakawa there's another teenaged girl, hugging a young boy in her lap. She's has no discernible injuries, but Yagi's mentioned 'Chrome' before. He'll need to make sure that his eyes aren't playing tricks before he leaves. As he approaches, Tamakawa's ears prick up, and he turns to greet his superior.

"Detective Tsukauchi," Tamakawa greets, walking over. "Thanks for coming so quickly. I know today is busy for everyone."

"For an incident like this, I make time," Tsukauchi replies, and looks back over to the chef. "What do we know?"

Tamakawa's eyes follow his, before scratching his cheek and looking away.

"We haven't gotten to singular witness statements, and we were more focused on getting everyone medical attention, but from what I've gathered from Miss Dokuro, Shigaraki came here to recruit her. When she refused, he and the other 'customers,' Shigaraki's henchmen, tried to take her by force. At which point, the chef and the other residents fought them off."

"This might be a restaurant, but it's still a private residence!" a voice from the side calls, and Tsukauchi looks over to see the silver haired teen standing and pointing a bandaged finger at the detective, much to the worry of the medic at his side. "We were within our rights to use our quirks, especially when we were under threat!"

"Gokudera, please, don't move until I've finished tending to your hands!" the medic wails, and the brunet almost jumps across the room to push the teen back in his seat.

"Hieee! Hayato, please don't talk yet," he begs. "You took some of the worst damage."

"That's Gokudera Hayato, and Sawada Tsunayoshi," Tamakawa explains. "Most of the local police force have had a run in with Gokudera for non-quirk related antics. From what I've heard, Sawada seems to be the majority of his impulse control."

"Very knowledgable on his quirk law, though," Tsukauchi comments, and Tamakawa chuckles.

"The local branch are already betting on whether he majors in law or politics. Either way, most of them are hoping to retire to before he reaches any position of power."

Well, that's adorable in a truly horrifying way. Suddenly the officer outside makes a lot more sense.

Rather than distract the teen any further, Tsukauchi turns his attention to the only adult victim. The chef's medic has stood up, apparently giving him the all clear. His leg is tightly bound, and there's a bandage around his head, but otherwise, he seems fine.

"Greetings...Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, was it?" Tsukauchi asks.

"Yeah, that's me," the man says, and gestures to the teen at his side. "This is my son, Yamamoto Takeshi."

Tsukauchi nods at the teen and smiles. "I'm Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi. It's nice to meet you."

The teen gives a tight smile. "I'd say the same, but...its been a long afternoon."

Tsukauchi gives a small laugh, and then glances over at the medic.

"Is he safe to answer a few questions?"

The woman nods. "He will need to be taken to the hospital, as will everyone else, but he'll be fine for the short term."

"The kids don't have to go," Tsuyoshi insists. "I just took a bad hit to the leg, they're all relatively fine."

"Sorry, but it's standard procedure when dealing with a villain attack on this scale," Tsukauchi explains. "Just in case there's an unknown quirk involved. Everyone gets a full check ups, just in case."

There's some kind of noise from the corner where Chrome still stands, but while Tamakawa's ears flicker as he glances over, he clearly doesn't hear enough to bring it to Tsukauchi's attention.

"Great," Tsuyoshi mutters, before looking up with a tired smile. "Alright, let's get this over with. What do you need? Individual statements, or is a group one fine?"

"Given the circumstances, I'd appreciate speaking to each of you separately," Tsukauchi says. "Would you mind if I began with you? It'll give the responders time to finish treating your kids."

The chef looks over at the table, and when Tsukauchi follows his line of sight, he frowns at the expressions. Gokudera's head is down, like he's fighting the urge to erupt. Sawada has his hand on his shoulder, and Tsukauchi is pretty certain that's the only reason the teen isn't up screaming. The two on the other side or both staring at them – no...they're staring at Sawada.

Actually...they're trying to be subtle, but every single witness bar Gokudera is watching him. The teen in question looks like he'd rather be anywhere but here, but gives a tiny nod. If Tsukauchi hadn't been watching carefully, he might even have missed it.

At his side, Tamakawa gives a curious 'hmm,' at their antics, and Tsukauchi can't disagree. The officer outside was right. Hiding something indeed.

* * *

Once the medics clear them all, one of the tables is pulled back into a less damaged part of the room, and Tsuyoshi sits on on side. Tsukauchi and Tamakawa sit across, and the hoard of kids huddle near the entrance, where there's little damage or broken glass. Not a one of them looks happy to be there – even the youngest, who from what he's been told wasn't even there, is mumbling worriedly to himself.

"Before we begin, I'm legally required to explain the nature of my quirk," Tsukauchi explains, and Tsuyoshi frowns.

"I was of the impression that the police weren't licensed to use their quirks," he says, and Tsukauchi nods.

"We're not," he admits. "However, mine doesn't switch off, and due to it's nature, I have a specialised licence for its use. It's called 'Lie Detector,' and allows me to tell when someone is telling the truth. If you lie, my quirk will alert me."

There's a long silence, before Gokudera Hayato walks over to the non-damaged part of the counter, and slams his head down on the surface.

"I hate this world..." he growls, almost too quiet to hear, before lifting himself up, walking back to the group, and crossing his arms.

"Of course it does," he says. "Never mind the whole, 'only heroes can use their quirks,' right? You found the one - the **one** \- job, that would let you get away with it."

Sawada gives a pained whine, followed by a quiet "Hayato...," while to the side, Naomasa definitely sees Tamakawa covering up a laugh with a cough, but he lets it go. It's hardly the first time someone's made that argument, and there are reasons why people with animal or mutant quirks have a tendency to go into law enforcement. Although he says it with such vitriol...there's a story there.

"If you're uncomfortable with me asking the questions, we can see about getting another Detective here for your story," he explains, only for Tsuyoshi to shake his head.

"No...no, let's just get this over with," he explains. "We did nothing wrong today. Ask your questions."

"Okay, well, lets start with the basics" Tsukauchi says, pulling out his notepad. "Name?"

"Yamamoto Tsuyoshi" the chef muttered.

"Registered quirk?"

"None" the man replied. "I'm quirkless."

The pen froze, and both the Detective and Officer look up in surprise. Tsuyoshi just rolled his eyes.

"Really? It's not _that_ uncommon."

Tamakawa gives a nervous laugh. "Of course not. It's just, well..."

People usually sound a lot more bitter about it? Not doing nearly as well as Tsuyoshi seems to be doing considering the success of his restaurant?

Neither seems things he should be bringing up, and Tsukauchi moves on.

Yamamoto explanation is fairly similar to the bare bones Tsukauchi had heard earlier. They'd been serving a skeleton crowd of six, and when the youngest guest had asked for Chrome to sit down for a moment, Yamamoto had agreed. The girl doesn't have a lot of friends, and she's apparently 'drawn' to strange personalities. They hadn't seen the harm – right up until Tsuna had reacted in the kitchen, bringing everyone into the restaurant.

"Tsuna reacted?" Tsukauchi questions, glancing over at the teen who is doing an admirable job of avoiding eye contact.

"His intuition is phenomenal," Tsuyoshi explains. "If he reacts, it's for good reason."

"Is that his quirk?" Tamakawa asks, and Tsuyoshi grimaces.

"Pretty sure if I say yes, you'll say I lied," he says, and Tsukauchi frowns.

"How so?"

At that, Tsuyoshi glances over his shoulder at a stricken Tsuna, before sighing and turning back.

"Let's just say it is, and it isn't," he explains. "Tsuna can probably explain it better himself."

The teen gives a quiet 'Hiee,' and drops his head into his hands, which is one of the stranger reactions Tsukauchi has ever seen to a teen being asked to explain a quirk that apparently helped save his family.

Said reaction however, seems to make far more sense when Yamamoto's explanation continues. While one villain had entered the kitchen, Tsuyoshi had struggled to fight him off – the man's quirk a bad match for his sword (which yes, he has a licence for, and yes he show it if you need it, Detective), when Tsuna had jumped in to help. He'd stopped the man from absorbing Tsuyoshi's katana, and then blown the man back with his flames.

"Wait, flames?" Tsukauchi repeats, and Tsuyoshi nods.

"I told you, it's complicated," he says. "They're not fire so much as pure energy, but that blast is what melted the counter and sent my opponent out the window. When I got outside the kitchen, I kept the leader from attacking Takeshi, and both he and the teleporter vanished when the kids tried to dog pile them. Police showed up a few minutes later, and that's all I know."

* * *

Next up is Gokudera Hayato, who slumps into his seat with more attitude than half the punks Tsukauchi had to put away when he was a uniform officer combined. His face is apparently stuck in a half snarl, and Tsukauchi doubts that's going to change for the remainder of this interview.

"My name's Gokudera Hayato," he growls. "And my quirk's-"

He stops. Probably because he saw Tsukauchi's pen pause the second 'Gokudera' left his mouth.

"Fuck, that quirk's _sharp_ ," he hisses. Tsukauchi just frowns.

"Any reason why your name registers as a lie?" he asks. Technically it hadn't - but it also hadn't registered as a truth, which had caught him off guard. A quick glance at the group waiting in the corner suggests this is a surprise to them too.

The teen in front of him however, runs a hand through his hair and glares at him.

"It's the only name I go by now," he says. "Hayato's my first name, but Gokudera was my mother's. I took her name after I learned what happened to her."

Truth, truth, truth and...truth. Tsukauchi tries to give him a sympathetic smile, but he doubts it has much effect. The teen is hardly the first delinquent foster to change his name to get away from bad memories. Still...given the teen's reputation, he needs to be sure...

"What happened to her?" he asks. "Was it a villain attack?"

This actually gets a roll of the teens eyes.

"No," he says. "She was sick. Of a non-quirk disease. She died when I was three, I just didn't learn she was my _mother_ until I was ten. And I'm not answering any more questions about it."

His hand twitches, and he digs into his shirt to pull out a cigarette. It's immediately popped into his mouth, and the teen starts chewing on the edge, probably desperate for the distraction. Tsukauchi allows it, given that the chef – while frowning – isn't doing anything to dissuade him. Clearly, Gokudera's previous family situation is a sensitive spot, and given that every answer the teen has given since his name tripped him up has been honest, Tsukauchi is happy to let it go.

"Your quirk?"

"My quirk is registered as 'disintegration,'" Gokudera explains, letting his lips quirk into a grin. "When I activate my power, I can destroy anything I touch. By the looks of things, the Zombie's quirk was similar, only his had a five finger activation while mine's conscious."

He gives a dark grin. "Turns out, my destruction was the more dangerous. The state of my hands is _nothing_ compared to his. If he hadn't let go when he did, I might have made him quirkless."

That's definitely terrifying considering just how dangerous Shigaraki's quirk has been recorded as being. And also not traditionally the way similar quirks react to each other...although admittedly, disintegration quirks aren't exactly common. He'll need to speak to the medics regarding the state of Gokudera's hands just to find out if they agree with his conclusion.

He's definitely surprised to learn the teen only used his quirk to counter Shigaraki's however. The revelation of explosives - "100% within legal limits and I can prove it" - was not expected, though it makes Gokudera's file and lack of 'villain' status so much more understandable. By the time he finishes his statement however, Tsukauchi is more wary than anything.

Then again, given the way the teen's interview has gone, that's hardly strange. The teen hasn't said anything that tips off as a _lie_ , but at the same time, he can't help but shake the feeling he's not been entirely truthful either. Perhaps he will go collect a copy of that file at the local station, just in case.

* * *

As the target of the attack, Tsukauchi chooses to interview Dokuro Chrome next. As the girl takes her seat, he's genuinely astonished at just how frail the young teen looks. She's so waifish, without an ounce of obvious muscle, and the eyepatch design with the skull seems completely out of place. It's a testament to the insanity of quirks that she's the one this started for.

"Name?"

Chrome opens her mouth, and then slams it shut. Unlike the last time, nearly the entire group grimaces.

"Oh, right," Gokudera mutters. "If it caught me...fuck."

"Hieee,"

"Ah, Extremely problematic."

Tsukauchi looks at them, and then over at Chrome.

"Let me guess, 'Dokuro Chrome' is not your real name either."

"Um, I mean. It's the one on all my legal documents now?" Chrome offers. "It was given to me by someone important, and it's the only person I want to be now."

"For what it's worth?" Yamamoto calls from the side. "None of us know what it used to be, and the kids have known her years."

True, so Tsukauchi drops it. Given the incident earlier this year, Recovery Girl or All Might probably already did a background check.

"And your quirk?"

"Illusional Construction. I can create illusions, and can choose to make them solid."

"And can you explain what happened today?"

The girl begins to explain that she come down to relieve Kyoko, the other girl, so she could watch the first year's compete. None of the customers had been particularly noticeable, but she's been trying to be more sociable. She's always had issues with talking to new people, and when the new customer had asked her to sit down and talk, it seemed like a good opportunity. He'd wanted to know why she wasn't watching the Sports Festival, and as someone who wasn't hero crazy, she liked the idea of getting to talk about how over the top it was with someone outside her family. She hadn't realised just how 'anti-hero' he was until he mentioned an incident that he shouldn't know about. When he'd started to press, Tsuna had rushed in, and Chrome had been attacked by someone with spiderwebs and another illusionist. However, Tsuna had ploughed straight into the illusionist, allowing Chrome to take out the spider.

"Wouldn't it have made more sense for you to take on the illusionist?" Tsukauchi asks, and Chrome smiles.

"Tsuna's intuition makes it hard for illusionists," she explains. "I can never catch him, and the person who taught me really struggled. He didn't have a chance, and it meant I could take out Ms. Spider without worrying."

Her smile dims slightly.

"Although, I did kind of get carried away when she smashed into the window. She just wouldn't go down, and I had to get creative."

Tsukauchi glances over at the window.

"What exactly did you do to her?"

Thirty seconds later, he deeply regrets asking that question. Suddenly that eye patch doesn't look out of place on this girl _at all_.

* * *

Both the younger Yamamoto and Sasagawa Ryohei follow with their statements, but neither offer anything new. Admittedly, Sasagawa's involved a lot of 'Extremes!' and admitting he'd had to hold back or risk being more injured than he otherwise was, but other than that, they'd both used their quirks in order to defend themselves and remove the villains from the building. By and large, their stories match up with what they'd heard from Gokudera and Dokuro.

Finally, it's Sawada Tsunayoshi's turn, and of all the residents to sit in the chair, he's definitely the most terrified looking.

"Name?" Tsukauchi asks, although at this point its entirely a formality.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," the teen says. It's actually a relief to find that one rings true.

"And your registered quirk?" Tsukauchi says, genuinely curious after so many tales. Tamakawa's even leaning in slightly. The teen's face sags, and he all but mumbles it out.

"It's registered as 'Harmonisation.'"

Tsukauchi frowns. That doesn't really explain much.

"Why 'Harmonisation?'"

"Well, because that's what it does, sort of" Tsuna explains. He eyes Tsukauchi for a moment, before dropping his arms on the table, fingers twisting together.

"The description on the registry says that it essentially, 'harmonises' with quirks that come into its bloodline."

Tsukauchi must still look confused, because the teen sighs and twists his hands even further.

"Hypothetically" he starts. "Someone with a 'harmonisation' quirk would have a child with someone who, say, had an intuition quirk. That child would be born with the intuition quirk, and the harmonisation quirk, because it 'harmonises' with any quirk that it comes into contact with. Then that child could marry someone with a fire quirk, and have a child with intuition, fire, and the harmonisation quirk. Several generations later, you'd have a child with multiple quirks all 'harmonised' and mutated together for easier use.

You could hear a pin drop in the restaurant. Even Tsukauchi's pen is frozen on it's pad.

That's...that's not _impossible_ , stockpiling quirks do exist, but – that's a stockpiling quirk that gets _passed down_. That _collects_ quirks.

Admittedly, it's a stockpiling quirk that gets passed down by _inheriting_ quirks, which is definitely different from a certain other two stockpiling quirks Tsukauchi is aware of, but – there are similarities he can't ignore there. Especially not in what is essentially a foster child whose family history is currently unknown to him.

He swallows, and tries to ignore how dry his mouth is. Part of him dearly wants to ask about Tsuna's family, and how he came to be in Musutafu, but there's no way to justify the questions for this particular case. He needs to wait, and start a more private investigation.

"T-thank you for explaining," he coughs out. "Now, can you explain to me in your own words what happened?"

"Well, I was in the kitchen, helping Yamamoto with the plates..."

* * *

Once Tsuna finishes his own statement, Tsukauchi ushers every single member of the family – even the two who weren't there – straight towards the ambulances outside and asks Tamakawa to escort them. Never has he been so grateful for the mandatory check up required after major villain attacks. He has a suspicion those records will come in handy for the other investigation he's going to have to start.

Once the family is clear, and he's made certain the building is secured, he slips into an alley for privacy. He pulls up his phone, and starts pulling up All Might's number. It takes him a few rings, no doubt still caught at the festival.

"Ah, Naomasa," he greets when he finally answers, sounding slightly distracted. "I can't really talk right now-"

"I know, Toshi," he interrupts. "But I wouldn't have called if I thought this could wait. Takesushi was attacked by the League of Villains this afternoon."

"What!" the man yelps. "How, why-is everyone okay?"

"Yes, somewhat," Tsukauchi offers. "Yamamoto Tsuyoshi has a leg injury, but otherwise everyone is fine. It appears they were looking to abduct Dokuro Chrome."

The pained whine that comes through the phone is awful to hear. "That poor girl...this is all because I was foolish enough to let her help me. You're certain she's fine?"

"They're being sent to the hospital as a precaution, but yes" Tsukauchi replies. "However, when I was interviewing the rest of the family, something came up. How much do you know about Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

His friend stays quiet for an almost uncomfortable amount of time.

"I suspect not as much as you do at this point," he says eventually. "He's a charming, if slightly clumsy, young man who loves his adoptive family quite dearly."

"What about his quirk?" Tsukauchi presses.

"All I truly know about it, is that it changes the colour of his eyes on occasion," Yagi replies. "I don't have the most conversational relationship with them, especially after the Chrome incident. Present Mic might know more. I can give him your details?"

"I'd appreciate it," Tsukauchi says.

"...Naomasa, do I want to know exactly why you needed to ask me that?" Yagi asks, and the Detective sags against the wall. How on earth does he explain this?

It takes a few moments, but eventually, he puts into words exactly what's been circling his head ever since a small, unassuming teen described his quirk.

"I have a question," he says. "The original One for All. Or hey, even All for One. Do you know if either of them ever had a kid?"

"...I...to be honest it's something I've ever put much thought into," Yagi answers slowly, but warily. His friend can't blame him. "Why do you ask?"

Tsukauchi glances back at the restaurant, doubt creeping into his mind. If he's wrong, he could bring a lot of heat down on a poor kid that doesn't deserve it. But if he's right…

No...even if he's wrong, there's no way the League of Villains wont make the same assumptions he is. He has to speak up.

"Because I think I just interviewed one of their direct descendants, hiding in Musutafu," he says. "And as of today, the League of Villains know about him too."

* * *

 _Can't believe this thing made it to 12 chapters. If it were a series, that would be part 1 done and dusted. Definitely expecting a longer delay for the next chapter, just because while I know where I'm going, I haven't quite decided how I'm getting there_

 _And yes, Tsuna - completely by accident - has chosen the worst possible description for his quirk. In his defence, it was Hayato's idea._


	13. UA

_Gee...how on earth do I manage to explain away the whole Takesushi-secret-past when they're being questioned by a bunch of idol-law-enforcement? By mangling logic as much as I can and preparing for an even bigger misunderstanding later in the future._

* * *

It's been a long, exhausting few days for the UA staff. Traditionally, this kind of investigation would go to a private hero firm – but given the proximity and All Might's presence, Nezu had pulled strings and had the medical files of the Takesushi family brought to them. Files that Ectoplasm is now handing out to the heroes, sat around the table of a conference room, in addition to the background research performed by their own interns.

"Let's start things off," Nezu begins. "Ectoplasm?"

The man slumps into his seat and picks up his file.

"Well, their background history is complete fiction," he says. "I called Namimori Middle, and while there is a record of their attendance, none of the teachers could remember any of them. Either through quirk, lack of quirk, or extracurriculars."

"They could have stayed under the radar?" Midnight offers, but Ectoplasm shakes his head.

"I had a few rookie heroes check all the middle schools in the area. None of them have won any significant games in baseball, or had much success in boxing, and the coaches all said that if they had anyone with talent, it would have stuck in their minds. Yamamoto Takeshi and Sasagawa Ryohei? Don't ring any bells. Nor does the school, or the local police department, remember one Gokudera Hayato."

"That's definitely condemning," Snipe mutters, and Ectoplasm nods.

"I also checked the records for any sushi restaurants that have closed in the last few years. Each one is accounted for – no trace of any owned by Yamamoto Tsuyoshi. Despite the fact that Namimori council do have a business licence and a former address for him."

"No doubt hacked and planted for security," Nezu says. "It would pass a surface check, but nothing else."

"That's the strange thing though," Ectoplasm says. "They went to a lot of effort to pass the electronic files, but the addresses they picked...they're weird."

"What do you mean?"

"There were plenty of streets Yamamoto could have claimed he had a restaurant in. High turnover, neighbourhoods with lousy filing, but he chose an address where there's been a gym for the past fifty years. Anyone who did a double check would have spotted it. And some of the kid's addresses aren't even in regional neighbourhoods. Why they picked them makes no sense."

"Actually, it gets weirder," All Might adds. "Don't forget, when Naomasa interviewed them, they all said they were from Namimori, and it rang true."

Everyone pauses at that.

"Is it possible they were speaking of another Namimori?" Power Loader offers, and Vlad King nods.

"Or part of an organisation using the name?"

"There's also a more sinister theory," Midnight says with a frown. "That it rings true because they themselves believe it. False memories implanted in moles."

"I doubt it," Present Mic is quick to argue. "If you can do that, you're going to put more effort into the backstory. Plenty of places where people fly under the radar, why go for one that's so easy to invalidate?"

By his side, still mostly swaddled in bandages, Eraser Head nods.

"Still, we can't rule it out. Personally, the idea that Namimori is not the town but a reference to something else seems the most likely."

Nezu nods.

"I agree. Especially when we look at the hospital records."

All of them turn the pages and look at the pages. There are x-rays, doctor's reports, and a lot of official documents allowing their release. Midnight's eyebrows are raised as she glances through them.

"How legal is it that we have all these?"

"When it comes to anything regarding the League of Villains, you'd be surprised what the government will give us," Nezu explains. "Regardless, the medical history paints a brutal tale."

He taps the top file. "Leave Sawada to last. The others?"

Ectoplasm grabs the records.

"Most of us are already familiar with one Dokuro Chrome after the Mall incident," he says. "Sasagawa Kyoko has nothing out of the ordinary in her file, and the youngest got a clean bill of health, although the doctors did note some irregularities."

"Fuuta?" Present Mic asks. "What's wrong?"

Ectoplasm shook his head. "Nothing major, but the doctors say he looked malnourished. His build and some of his bloodwork suggested he hadn't been allowed outside for several years. A reduced amount of vitamin D and atrophied muscle. He's young enough to bounce back, but it looks like he was under house arrest of some kind."

"He is known for having trouble controlling his quirk," Present Mic explains. "It's possible his original family didn't let him out until he could. It would be lousy, but not unheard of."

They all nod, and Nezu takes over.

"However, I can't say the same for the rest. Recovery Girl, you'll probably want to look over the other's more thoroughly."

The woman nods and puts her head down, and Ectoplasm picks up the file of the eldest Sasagawa.

"Now, as I said, Kyoko had no serious red flags, but her brother is difficult to gauge to his quirk," he starts. "There's definitely damage, but his quirk seems to result in some form of regeneration. It's next to impossible to tell how old or how bad most of his injuries were."

Everyone nods as they take in the notes. Sasagawa Ryohei does have quite a list of minor injuries – but he's also a boxer, and there's nothing immediately catching their eye-

"Fake teeth?" Vlad asks, pausing when he takes a closer look at the skull.

"Five of them," Recovery Girl says. "And while I'm not a dentist, and his quirk makes it hard to tell, they look like they're replacements for teeth that were knocked out, rather than damaged ones."

"Must have been one hell of a fight to lose five teeth," Power Loader notes. "Don't boxers wear mouth guards?"

"They do. In _official_ matches," Recovery Girl says, voice dark.

"Easy, Recovery Girl," Nezu soothes. "Like you said, it's hard to say exactly when or how they were lost. It could very well have been an accident. Anything else of interest?"

"Just a lot of minor cracks, especially in his fists," she says. "But given his training, most of it was intentional. The only scar he has is on his face, and given its age, was probably caused before his quirk was activated."

They all nod, and move on.

"Our next target is a lot less tame," Ectoplasm says, flicking open the next file.

"Gokudera Hayato. Like Fuuta, also has a history of malnourishment in his childhood, but on a much heavier scale. He also has severe damage to several of his organs – it looks like he spent quite a bit of time being routinely poisoned. I think he's been subconsciously using his quirk internally – I can't see how he would otherwise be alive at this point."

Recovery Girl is openly growling. "I can't disagree. No wonder the boy smokes, this kind of damage probably makes eating difficult. The cigarettes likely kill off his appetite."

"He also has some old broken bones, minor burns, and several scars of varying intensity, although given his reputation for street fighting and explosives, they're not exactly red flags," Eraser Head interjects. "But these test results...what are we looking at?"

"Electrocution," Recovery Girl immediately mutters. "Most likely from a quirk, but it would be difficult to prove. Definitely more than once, and high enough that they were looking to injure, if not outright kill him. It certainly wasn't accidental – not unless he jumped head first into a generator."

Present Mic winces, and lifts up a sheet. "Not to make it worse, but he might not have been the only one. Yamamoto Takeshi has the exact same test result in his file."

The woman immediately abandons the file to look at the other teens, and the group shuffle through to follow.

"Huh, the doctors didn't quite seem to know what to make of some of this," Nezu muses. "The electrocution isn't as strong at that of Gokudera's, but his medical history is...odd."

Midnight gives a bitter laugh. "I'll say. He has bite marks on his arm that don't match any animal on record, which suggests it came from someone with a quirk. That arm's also been broken at least once, and...ow, _major_ concussion. Did he actually crack his skull?"

"I've seen people with speed quirks with similar injuries," Eraser Head admits. "It's like he ran full speed into a wall head first."

"Or someone slammed him into one," Present Mic replies. "What do you think Recovery Girl?"

The woman doesn't reply, and the whole table turns to look at her.

"Shuzenji?" Nezu questions.

Recovery girl is staring at one of the X-rays, a finger frozen on the spine.

"Is something wrong?" Nezu continues.

"Can you not see it?" she asks, finger tapping on the X-ray, and everyone glances down.

All Might is the first to notice is, sucking in a breath at what he sees.

"Look at this," Recovery Girl says. "This boy, Yamamoto. Someone shattered his spine in the last few years."

Everyone pales – a few of them even sit back in surprise.

"He's one lucky son of a gun, if he managed to recover from that," Snipe offers. Recovery Girl immediately scoffs.

"Lucky? No, that injury is _unrecoverable_ ," she insists. "There isn't a surgeon or a treatment in the world who could have fixed this. He should be in a wheelchair, but he's walking?"

"Not just that. He's basically the star of the non-quirk baseball team at his school," Present Mic adds. Recovery Girl shakes her head.

"It's impossible. Even if it was an experimental surgery, there would be medical papers out now. I would have heard of it. I've scoured every spinal surgery and treatment on the planet ever since I was informed of Ingenium's condition, and this doesn't come close to anything I've seen."

"You're going to be visiting again?" Mic asks, voice heavy with dread, and Recovery Girl huffs.

"I want the Doctor's name," she warns. "I'd be impressed if they can find a way to argue against that, fake background or otherwise."

She then pulls up the last file.

"Do I dare ask?" she says. Nezu gives her a wry smile, and they all start scanning Sawada Tsunayoshi's file. A few glances in, and they're not even listening to Ectoplasm's overview.

It's terrifying. Sawada Tsunayoshi has had literally _every_ bone in his body broken at least once. There are visible scars – a brutal X on his back being the most damming, and there is consistent muscle strain throughout his body as if he's been pushed to the brink and back on a regular basis. Somebody has put this kid through the wringer. Repeatedly.

"Is this really Fluffy's records?" Midnight mutters. "You sure as hell wouldn't know it to look at him."

Recovery Girl is looking at some handwritten notes provided by the doctors performing the tests with a look that could kill.

"If he hadn't already been a foster kid, they'd have been calling social services," she says. "This kind of damage is barely even seen in heroes."

At that, she jerks her head up and glares in All Might's direction. He makes a point to keep staring at the files.

"Where or what the hell did these kids run from?" Eraser Head snarls, and Present Mic is grimacing. His face has been dark ever since they'd started reading Takeshi's file.

"What about Yamamoto senior?" he risks asking, and isn't sure if he's relieved to find...nothing. At least, nothing too out of the ordinary for a swordsman and sushi chef. Mostly just minor scars from blades.

Internally, his mind is going over a dark thought. While Tsuyoshi has no major injuries, his son _does_. It was one thing for most of the kids to be injured, but the fact that his son has so much severe damage means Yamamoto can't be fully in the dark. He's not just a good Samaritan taking in troubled teens - he's involved somehow.

"Well, where does this leave us?" he asks, sagging in his seat. Nezu hums in reply.

"To be honest, not much better off than we started," he admits. "While we now know they're lying about their background, and these records _are_ suspicious, there's nothing to show illegal activity. They're not in hero academics, so our authority is limited, and all evidence points to them trying to keep their heads down. What we really need is the truth – where they really came from."

He picks up Tsunayoshi's file again. "And more pressingly, we need more family history on young Sawada. If this is a family quirk, I want to know how nobody has ever heard of it. It can't have originated in Japan, or we would have some records of its existence."

"Italy would be our best bet," Ectoplasm offers. "Two of the kids have Italian roots but no relation. That can't be a coincidence."

Present Mic nods. "Yeah. I've heard them talking a couple of times too. Takeshi talks about a teacher every now and then, a Squalo something-or-other. It could definitely be an Italian name. Ryohei's mentioned western names a few times too."

"I'll put out feelers for a translator," Ectoplasm promises. "See what crops up. But perhaps we should see if we can pry anything from the source. Mic, do you think you can pry without making it obvious?"

Present Mic bites his cheek. "No promises," he says. "Yamamoto likes me, but they've been on edge ever since the incident. He can be loose-lipped, but they can clam up at the oddest times."

"I'll go," Yagi offers. "Given the circumstances, I feel like I'd be the best for asking these questions to young Sawada. I might have to reveal a few things about my own quirk, but it could be a good way to gain their trust."

"That's a risky move," Nezu warns, and Yagi shakes his head.

"I know," he admits. "But if what Sawada described regarding his quirk is true, they'll know if we're trying to pry. Being honest about our quirk's similarities might be enough to put him off guard and give us something new. Especially if he is related to... _him._ "

Everyone goes sombre at that. If there's a polite way to broach that subject, they certainly don't know it.

"Do we know if the original One For All had any children?" Recovery Girl offers. "Or perhaps it's more benign? For all we know, this is what the stockpiling quirk was originally meant to do before it got stolen. It might even be that he's related to that quirk user instead."

"Perhaps," All Might says. "But there's no record of _who_ the stockpiling quirk belonged to. It was long before quirk registration was a thing."

Ectoplasm leans back and nods. "Still, Shuzenji is right. Even if the quirk was taken, it would still be in the user's DNA. So any descendants would have it."

"Tread cautiously, All Might," Nezu warns, and Yagi nods.

"I know. I promise I'll be discreet."

While he might have sounded confident in the meeting, he's anything but when he walks through the door of Takesushi that evening. The restaurant is immaculate – one would never know it had been the site of siege earlier in the week – but it's still not open. Only the take out desk is available for now, and while Chrome is smiling, there's definitely wariness in her eyes.

"Good evening Yagi," she says. "Your usual?"

"Ah, I'm afraid not," he replies. "To be honest, I'm here for a more personal matter. Is Tsunayoshi here?"

Chrome sags, her eyelid closing slowly, before she points towards a booth in the empty restaurant.

"Please wait. I'll go get him."

From the reaction, it's clear the Takesushi inhabitants have suspected something along these lines, and Yagi gingerly takes a seat as the girl slips upstairs. He gives a short nod to Tsuyoshi, but his smile gets strained when the man points a point not to look at him.

He fights the urge to ask the question. At this point, the residents of Takesushi do not necessarily know that their history has been debunked, and treading too harshly right now could spook them. Which, if their reasons are benign, would be a cruel fate.

A few minutes later, after some rather loud muttering and several surprisingly loud bangs from upstairs, his target appears, shuffling down the stairwell with great reluctance.

It is truly phenomenal, the human ability to survive, Yagi thinks, as he watches Sawada Tsunayoshi walk towards him. If he hadn't seen the files personally, he would never guess this boy had suffered anything more than a paper cut. His clothes are baggy, and his face unassuming. For all intents and purposes, young Tsunayoshi looks like every other civilian on the street.

And yet, you could say the exact same about one Midoriya Izuku, and be completely incorrect.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Tsuna questions, sitting in the booth seat opposite him. Yagi tries to give him a reassuring smile, but from the way the teen's face strains, he's not certain he succeeds.

"Yes, it's regarding your quirk," he begins, inwardly sagging as he watches the boy wince.

"What's wrong with it now?" he all but whines, and Yagi squeaks, frantically waving his hands in front of him.

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing," he insists. "Your quirk is just fine. I just wanted to know more about it."

Tsuna frowns. "It's really not a big a deal," he says. "I don't get why everyone keeps reacting like this. Is it really that weird to have a stockpiling quirk?"

"No, but your particular quirk is...well, let me explain."

Yagi leans over the table, face grim.

"There is a stockpiling quirk that has been rather notorious in Japan," he explains. "It belonged to one of the worst villains to ever exist, and 'Harmonisation' is suspiciously similar to it."

Tsuna's eyes go impossibly wide, and Yagi blinks in shock as he suddenly thuds his head onto the table.

"Of course," he moans. "Of course it is. Why _wouldn't_ it be?"

"I swear, young Sawada, I'm not suggesting that you are a villain," Yagi urges. "But if heroes can make this comparison, so can the villains that you fought. You could be in great danger. I was hoping you could tell me more about its history. Do you know if anyone in your family line ever used it maliciously?"

Tsuna gives out another moan, mumbling something along the lines of ' _gill dayato,_ ' but forces his head back up. He looks unbearably tired.

"Would it help if I could promise, one hundred percent, that I'm not related to whoever you think I am?" he asks. "That's really what you're wanting to ask, isn't it?"

Yagi chuckles nervously. That intuition is rather terrifying.

"It wouldn't necessarily be a direct line," Yagi replies. "There was a lot of disownment and disappearances back when quirks first appeared. I don't think anyone can truly say there are no missing branches in their family tree these days."

Tsuna winces. "Oh...right. I guess that makes sense."

Yagi gives him a sympathetic smile. "Do you know which ancestor first developed this quirk? And did they have any relatives who also developed them?"

"No..." Tsuna said, shaking his head. "Actually, the first person with Harmonisation...they were an orphan. I don't know much about their parents."

Yagi doesn't have much of a stomach left, but that's got it dropping through the floor.

"But, but he was Italian," Tsuna offers with some desperation, finally confirming what they'd suspected about Italian ties. "And he did have some family in Italy, a cousin. Trust me, if there were any other family, they would have known about it because..."

"Because?" Yagi repeats when Tsuna trails off.

"...Let's just say Italians value bloodlines," he says. "Besides, he didn't have anything to do with them after he moved to Japan."

But a cousin just means one parent is accounted for. And while All for One did stay mostly in Japan, it's not out of the realm of possibility that he could have impregnated a visiting Italian or had an accident on a rare trip abroad. Or even One for All, after he obtained his quirk and broke free. God only knows the records just don't exist for back then.

"Can I ask, what exactly is the quirk you're worried about?" Tsuna then asks. "Hayato went on a big research binge of villain quirks after we were attacked, and I don't remember hearing anything about a quirk like mine."

"That's not surprising," Yagi admits. "Most outside of heroics aren't even aware of him. But his particular quirk can steal quirks from another, and add to his own arsenal. His brother also developed a quirk, that could stockpile power, which could then be passed down. If you compare the two-"

"-Harmonisation is a perfect mix," Tsuna finishes, looking somewhat resigned.

"Yes," Yagi says. "You said it was a family quirk? But we struggled to track it down in the registrar, which I'm sure you can understand raised some red flags."

Tsuna's face looks torn, and he glances to the side. Yagi frowns, moving his own head to see what caught his attention, only to jerk as Tsuyoshi moves into view, setting down a simple plate of sushi.

"You're going to have to talk about some of it, Tsunayoshi," Tsuyoshi offers, giving the teen a sympathetic smile. "There's no getting around it. We knew this was a possibility."

The boy's face falls.

"Yeah. I just can't believe we screwed it up this quickly."

Tsuyoshi huffs, and drags a seat over, dropping down with some relief.

"There's no record, for the exact reason you think there's not," Tsuyoshi explains, looking Yagi straight in the eye. "His father was a criminal. And while I can't speak for the rest of his direct family line since they're now deceased, it wouldn't surprise me if they could say the same."

Tsunayoshi slumps on the table.

"Tsuyoshi..."

"They're already making that conclusion, Tsuna," Tsuyoshi warns. "At least this way we can get ahead of it."

To be honest, Yagi's already astonished they're being this upfront about it. He was honestly expecting a lot more avoidance. But before he can question it, Tsunayoshi manages to gather himself up, and regains his full attention.

"My ancestor was a vigilante called Giotto," Tsuna says. "He was the first. I'm technically the tenth generation with this power, I think."

Ten generations?

One for All is at nine...

' _Stop thinking the worst, Toshinori_ ,' Yagi's brain hisses, and he tries to focus on the teen in front of him.

"He tried to use his quirk to protect people, but, I know his cousin didn't really agree with that, and he was betrayed by someone he trusted," Tsuna explains. "That's when he gave it up and fled to Japan. But the vigilante group kept going, and eventually, it evolved into a criminal organisation, rather than a legal one. I also know that my Dad joined it, though I don't exactly know when. My grandparents on that side were dead before I was born, so I don't know if they were involved."

"No aunts or uncles?"

"None," Tsuna replies. "It's a pretty empty family tree on my side."

Absolutely none of this is calming Yagi in the slightest, but Tsuna has been adamant about All for One not being involved…

"And you're certain this...organisation, is not involved with anyone from the League of Villains?" Yagi asked. "Or...someone called 'All for One?'"

He watches both of them like a hawk, looking for any tell. But neither so much as bat an eye at the name.

"Positive," Tsuna stresses. "I'll even say it to the truth-telling detective if you want. They were very secretive. The whole setup was big on making sure absolutely no one outside knew what they could do."

He gives a manic kind of smile.

"Ever seen those really old mafia movies?" he says. "The whole omerta thing? It was kind of like that. Really old school."

In the corner of his eye, Yagi can see Chrome quickly hiding her laughter behind a hand, and Tsuyoshi giving an amused smile at the reference.

A thought crosses Yagi's mind, and he leans forward.

"This organisation wouldn't have been called 'Namimori,' would it?"

Tsuna blinks in confusion, clearly thrown by the question.

"No...that's the town most of us grew up in," he says. "I thought you knew that?"

"Oh, uh, I did," Yagi says. "It was just a thought. What was it called then?"

The brunet cocks his head slightly, as if assessing him. He doesn't look like he wants to answer, but one word is all but dragged out of him.

"Vongola," he whispers, as if just mentioning it will have them descend upon him. "It was called Vongola."

"Did you grow up in this...Vongola?" Yagi asks, and Tsuna shakes his head.

"No...no, I didn't even know it existed until I was fourteen," he says, which has Yagi sitting up straight. "That's also when Harmonisation came into existence."

Yagi can connect the dots.

"You were kept out while you were quirkless, but when that changed, you were expected to join your family."

Tsuna shrugs.

"Something like that," Tsuna explains. "Didn't matter how much I protested or tried to escape. They decided the wanted me, and my opinion on the matter didn't really count for much."

He looks up at Tsuyoshi with genuine gratitude.

"I can't believe how lucky I've been," he says. "To get this chance to just be me, with my friends."

Yagi can't help but smile at them both.

"You know, we could help," he starts. "If you have knowledge of a villain group-"

The smiles on the faces immediately shut down.

"Out of your jurisdiction."

"They're not an issue any more."

The two then grimace, glancing at each other and then looking away. Tsuyoshi immediately stands up.

"If we ever hear so much as a rumour they're active in Musutafu, we'll call every hero we know," Tsuyoshi promises. "But we won't draw any more attention to ourselves than necessary. Especially if you're correct about this 'league' becoming interested."

Tsuna looks nervous, but there's a steely glint in his eye that suggests his opinion on the matter is exactly the same, and Yagi lets it go. Not that he won't be forwarding the name 'Vongola' to every Japanese and Italian agency Nezu can contact – but if this organisation of theirs is truly as underground as they say, it would be difficult to prove they were withholding information at all. It's probably not even a particularly large one – if it's old, it's most likely gone the way of many of the old Yakuza families, holding on by the skin of its teeth.

"I will hold you to that," he says, standing up himself. "But for now, I would recommend that Tsunayoshi doesn't go anywhere unaccompanied, for his own protection."

There's a sudden rumbling from upstairs, and Yagi blinks as someone lunges down the stairs, and watches as Gokudera practically vaults over the counter to reach them.

"I will protect Tsuna with my life!" he insists. Clearly he's been at the top of the stairwell, waiting for an opportunity to descend. "You don't have to waste your breath suggesting otherwise!"

"Hayato..." Tsuna moans, and the silver haired teen pouts.

"He said you were in danger," he stresses. "What was I supposed to do?"

Tsuna just shakes his head, and glances over into the kitchen. Yagi follows – and honestly isn't surprised to see two other teenage boys looking over with knowing looks.

"I don't think keeping Tsuna guarded will be too much effort," Tsuyoshi offers, and starts herding Yagi towards the door. "And I'm sure Yamada will be back for sushi when we open. I think we'll have the bodyguarding covered."

For everyone's sake, Yagi rather hopes so. He's pretty certain the only reason the restaurant got out with so few injuries was because Shigaraki and his men hadn't expected any resistance – and their pride had subconsciously held them back just long enough for the teens to gain the upper hand. If the league comes back with full intent...it might not end as favourably.

"Ah, one more thing," he says, just as he reaches the door, keeping his voice low so the teens wouldn't pick it up. "The doctors noticed something in Takeshi's file, regarding a spinal injury. Recovery Girl is quite interested in how it was repaired."

Tsuyoshi immediately winces.

"Yeah. Her and every other doctor who told me he'd never walk again," he mutters, running a hand through his hair. He looks a little guilty though, once he's composed himself.

"It wasn't a doctor," he says. "He was allied to Vongola, was alone in the room, and left as many questions at the hospital when he did it as I'm sure you have now."

Yagi frowns.

"Is there any way to contact him?" he asks, because if there's a villain who can heal _that_ kind of damage, there are a lot of people who'd be willing to offer _very_ lenient plea deals. "There is a hero with similar damage currently in critical care, who could truly use the assist."

Tsuyoshi looks genuinely dismayed.

"I wish I could say yes," he says. "But he no longer exists in this world."

He glances over, making sure that Tsuna and the others are engrossed in each other, and leans in.

"He's the one that helped Tsuna and the others escape."

Yagi's eyes go wide, and his body sags.

"I see," he says. "I will let Recovery Girl know."

Tsuyoshi nods in gratitude, and opens the door as Yagi walks out.

"Well?" Nezu asks, once Yagi is safely back in his office.

"I have no idea," Yagi admits, sitting opposite as the principal pours him tea. "While he was willing to admit being related to villains, Sawada was adamant that he had no relation to All for One. Didn't even acknowledge the name. But if his ancestor who first developed the quirk was an orphan, nothing can be ruled out. They're still keeping quite a bit of the story from us."

"Hmm," Nezu hums. "I guess it was too much to hope for a straight answer this earlier into the puzzle."

Yagi nods, but still looks torn.

"What I'm concerned about, is how confident they are when they say Namimori," Yagi admits.

"Oh?"

"If I didn't know the story had to be false, I wouldn't question it," Yagi explains. "Memory alteration must be involved, I'm just not sure if it was voluntary. And that throws everything into question."

"Tsunayoshi was insistent that his family line was not related to All For One, but he was also insistent on growing up in Namimori," Nezu summarises. "If one is untrue, the other could be as well."

"What's our next move?" Yagi asks, and Nezu picks up his cup.

"We'll keep watching them," Nezu says. "What we've been doing," Nezu offers. "Keep visiting Takesushi. Encourage Yamada to maintain his friendship with Tsuyoshi. And listen to what they say. All while we continue our own investigation. With the student's internships coming up, our colleagues will have more time to properly look into the situation as well."

He stops and gives him an amused grin.

"Who knows? Maybe they'll get to a point of trust that they'll tell us everything themselves."

* * *

 _Okay, some people are confused about Takeshi's injury and how it was healed- in the manga, during the Inheritance Arc, Takeshi was attacked. While I don't think the injuries were specified, they did say he'd likely never walk again, so I went with spinal._

 _Later in the Arc, he was healed by that timeline's Byakuran, much like the future one saved Genkishi with otherworldly knowledge. Hope that clears a few things up._


	14. Iida

_This chapter is the epitome of 'ideas that sounded better in my head than they did written down.' It's been fighting me since March. I've accepted it's as good as it's getting, and I'd rather push on to the rest of the fic than keep picking at this. Especially since my interest in BNHA is waning and I'd like to get this fic finished before it vanishes completely._

* * *

Iida Tenya has spent most of the week in something of a haze. It felt like his world was irreversibly shattered the second he'd set foot on that tournament stage. From that moment on, everything had just gone downhill. It was a true testament to the phrase 'it can't get any worse' when he walked off to take that call – to find his embarrassing fight was trivial, because his brother was fighting for his life thanks to a crazed monster.

He swears he'll never forget what he saw in that hospital room for the rest of his life. His brother, the strong, charismatic, honest and amazing hero, lying pale on a bed with wires everywhere, with a fate nobody wants to hear.

Crippled. Paralysed from the waist down. His hero career – his entire way of life, snuffed out at the hands of a monster.

He shouldn't even be here. This knowledge isn't something he should have had access to, but his family had been speaking to Recovery Girl, and while Tenya was had been kept out of the meetings due to his age, he'd eavesdropped whenever possible. He'd heard them discussing a possible treatment, but Recovery Girl had insisted it was a dead end.

But while his parents might think that's an acceptable outcome, Tenya doesn't. If it's a possibility, surely they should at least investigate it?

It might not have been the right thing ethically, but last night, he slipped into his father's office, and looked up the correspondence. While names and medical files were either redacted or missing, there is one word that stands out. Takesushi. The restaurant a stone's throw away from the school. Someone there has recovered from a similar injury. He doesn't know who, or how long ago, and both his parents and Recovery Girl went to a lot of effort to make sure it wouldn't be easily pieced together if anyone got access to the emails, but Tenya knows how the Iida Hero Agency encodes their electric data, and filled in the blanks himself.

That's what brought him here, just before opening. A restaurant in a busy part of town. He vaguely remembers hearing that it had been the victim of a villain attack recently, and the building does look like it's required some repairs recently. He walks to the door, and heads straight towards a pair of girls setting up tables.

"We're not open yet," says the one with lighter hair, looking up as he walks over.

"I'm not a customer," Tenya replies. "I'm looking for information."

That causes the other girl – who wears an eyepatch – to stop working and take Tenya in. She looks rather resigned.

"What kind of information?"

Tenya clenches his fists. "I want to know about the person who recovered from a spinal injury."

The two girls pause for a moment, and then glance at each other, looking very awkward.

"I know somebody in this building survived something impossible," Tenya repeats. "And I'm not leaving until I hear from them."

"At least it's not me this time," the eyepatch girl mutters under her breath, and she brushes past him, heading for the kitchen. The other girl stays, eyes piercing into Tenya's.

"You shouldn't know about that," she says. "Medical history is private."

Tenya can't maintain the eye contact, glancing away as he chokes down the guilt. He knows his actions have not been honourable, but the circumstances demand it.

"Head upstairs Kyoko, I'll deal with this."

He jerks his head to the side, as a man in chef wides strides out, looking none too pleased. The girl gives him a glance, and then complies. The chef watches her go, before pinning Tenya to the spot with a glare.

"I'm getting very tired of people showing up uninvited outside of opening hours," he warns. "And Kyoko was right, that's not something you should know."

"I did research myself," Tenya defends, bending the truth just to the side. "I spend a lot of time in the hospital, and I heard nurses gossiping. It took a while, but it wasn't impossible to trace."

The chef sighs, running a hand over his face. "That nail just refuses to be hammered down, doesn't it."

"Tell me, how did you recover?" Tenya asks. "I don't know if you're aware, but my brother is-"

"It wasn't me, it was my son," the man interrupts. "And we've been informed of the unfortunate incident regarding the Hero in question, but there's nothing we can offer that can help."

Tenya scowls. "That cannot be true. There must at least be a Doctor you can introduce?"

"The fact of the matter, is that my son was unconscious for the procedure, and the only other person in the room was the one who performed it," the man snaps. "We neither signed off on it, or were informed about it until the procedure was already done. My son's own doctors asked the very questions you are, and we couldn't answer them any more than we can you."

Tenya feels himself bite his tongue, reeling from the new information. He's been so focused on the revolutionary side of this miracle, it had never occurred to him the silence is because it was involuntary. That suggests a quirk was involved – possibly one with a price they wanted to keep from the patient.

"Then...do the police have any leads on who performed an unsanctioned-"

"Kid, for the last time, this is a dead end," the chef snaps. "And unless you want me calling the police for gross privacy violations you'd be-"

"I just want to help my brother," Tenya begs. "This is the only lead that has any value at all. Can't you-"

His voice dies in his throat when the door the restaurant slams open, and both of them look over to see a silver haired teen storming in, cursing at a pace that would give even Bakugo pause. The anger might be somewhat justified, because there's quite an impressive set of scratch marks on the teen's cheek that look fairly fresh.

The chef doesn't seem even slightly perturbed at the interruption, only tilting his head slightly as the teen gets close. "Gokudera, any lu-"

"No!" the teen snaps. "That stupid cat ran off again! Where the hell does she keep going?"

The chef sighs. "I've warned you before, Uri can't be allowed to just run wild. You need to train her better."

"It's not like I'm not trying," Gokudera grumbles. "I roped in a hero who likes cats on the way back too."

"Eraser Head?"

"Nah, a woman. Said her quirk would be useful for tracking her."

He then looks at Tenya and freezes, as if only just realising he's there.

"Who are you?"

Tenya opens his mouth, only for the chef to push past him.

"Someone who was just leaving."

Tenya grits his teeth as the man heads back towards the kitchen. He's getting frustrated at how much he gets cut off in this restaurant. Once he's managed to calm down, he sees Gokudera watching him with a sharp glare.

"Well built, educated, pissed of Tsuyoshi within a matter of minutes...what sports school are you from?"

"What? I'm not-no, I'm a hero student," Tenya says, rather confused. This lightens the glare, but not the suspicion aimed his way.

"Okay, then why the hell are you bickering with a chef?" Gokudera asks. "Finally get sick of Present Mic bringing in take out to class?"

Tenya frowns, and looks away. "I wanted-"

He sighs. "I heard someone recovered from a spinal injury, and my brother suffered a similar condition. He's a Hero, and I was hoping for a way to help him."

He'll admit it, he'd been expecting sympathy, not the growl and rolling of eyes.

"God, again? What does it take to get you lot to back off?" Gokudera mutters. "I swear, someone needs to kick the collective hero industry in the balls. You have no respect for anything."

And that's more than Tenya, proud and sleep deprived, can handle.

"How dare you!" he yells, watching as Gokudera's eyebrows raise. "Heroics is composed of the greatest members of each generation! People who give their lives to protecting our society and way of life! You should be grateful for any chance to aid them, not scoffing at their sacrifices! It's the duty of all civilians to-"

Gokudera slams a hand on the table at his side, the sound echoing around the room and cutting Tenya right off. He flinches as the other teen looms forward, an evil look on his face, and Tenya feels something shiver up his spine.

"Duty, huh?" Gokudera asks. "I don't want to hear that from a glorified celebrity wannabe."

Tenya's jaw drops. Celebrity what?

"Greatest members of each generation?" Gokudera continues. "That's the biggest crock I've ever heard. Anyone with eyes can tell Heroes are the most unnecessary distraction this world has."

"Heroes exist to help people!" Tenya defends. "To protect them from dangers others cannot."

"Oh, you want to help people?" Gokudera asks. "Then why not be a policeman? Or a fireman, or a doctor, or literally any profession that exists to serve society. Haven't these people devoted themselves to helping society? Why aren't they elevated?"

"I, that's...of course those people are valued. It's not-"

"But not to the extent that Heroes are, right?" Gokudera presses. "Because there's one fundamental difference between a hero and all those other jobs."

"Well yes," Tenya admits. "Heroes can use their quirks. It's why those with strong quirks are encouraged into the profession."

And everyone wants to use their quirk, so why wouldn't you admire those who achieved that. It's hardly an unnatural reaction.

Gokudera however, shakes his head. "Wrong."

Tenya frowns. "Wrong?"

"All those professions allow people to use their quirks, _provided_ they can justify it," Gokudera explains. "Granted, they often get written up for their use unless they're in the medical profession, but plenty of people with quirks that would be useful in a specific profession get pushed towards it. Hell, we got interrogated by a cop with a truth telling quirk not that long ago – Heroes don't have the monopoly they think they have."

His eyes narrow, and his smirk sharpens. "The only real difference, is that a hero expects to be _rewarded_ for helping people."

Tenya lunges forward, slamming his hand on the same table Gokudera had. "That is not true!"

"Isn't it?" Gokudera counters, still with that vicious smile on his face. "Policeman are forbidden from taking any kind of gift for their service. Nobody offers sponsorship for fireman, or does popularity contests for soldiers, and there's certainly no photo shoots or merchandise for doctors. But Heroes? Heroes are celebrities – you're considered a success by how much your face is plastered all over a bedroom wall rather than how much crime you stop."

Tenya blushes bright red.

"That's a gross misunderstanding of what a Hero is," he defends. "Yes, Heroes are celebrated for their work, but it's part of being in the public eye."

"Really?" Gokudera parries. "Cause I've been checking my history, and this whole, literal hero-worship shtick only started about 50 years ago. Heroes have been around a long time, but the celebrity part is new, and now by far the more important requirement."

"Bite your tongue!"

"Oh I've been biting my tongue for _months_ ," Gokudera laughs. "A guilt free target that can't hit back is exactly what I need."

"Now see he-"

"If heroes were really just about protecting people, they'd be under the same rules as all other government jobs," Gokudera says. "No sponsorship, blanket refusal on gifts, and sure as hell no merchandise. And yet, they're not. Because there's money to be made, so long as Heroes are marketable. And that means big, flashy quirks and popularity contests on par with the Idol factory."

With that, Gokudera's body relaxes, slouching and leaning on the table.

"If you and your brother were _really_ only in it to help people, you would have never become heroes," Gokudera concludes. "You would have rejected the premise and devoted yourself to helping people in obscurity. Or you'd be aiming to be like that teacher of yours, and refuse all merchandise and advertisement contracts."

"The money that comes from those sales goes towards protecting the people!" Iida protests. "It's not as if it goes straight into our pockets."

"Oh, so you're saying that Eraser Head is a bad hero?" Gokudera snaps. "Because he's not also providing the necessary celebrity income?"

"Of course not!" Tenya gasps. "It's not-I'm-"

Gokudera scoffs. "Good. For what it's worth, he's the only Hero I've researched so far that seems to be worth the time. I'd have punched you in the face if you'd answered otherwise."

"So you agree that there is some merit to heroes?" Tenya stumbles, desperate to get at least some ground back. He regrets it the second he sees triumph in Gokudera's eyes.

"Sure. It's obvious the idea started in a good place. But it's clear it's gotten out of hand. Heroes don't just uphold the law, they think they're above it. It would be ironic if it wasn't so damn annoying."

Tenya's heart sinks. He knows it's bait, he knows it's a trap. And yet he just can't help himself.

"Heroes are no more above the law than anyone else," he insists. "Their duty is to uphold and protect, no exceptions."

"And yet, Mt. Lady causes more property damage using her quirk than the villains she catches on a regular basis. The amount of first degree burns Endeavour causes civilians who don't evacuate in time is ridiculous."

"Those are accidental situations!" Tenya protests. "Sometimes, you can't stop powerful villains without some damage control."

"All right, I'll grant you that," Gokudera admits. But before Tenya can feel any relief, Gokudera continues. "But what about you?"

"Me?"

Another sharp, vicious smile.

"You're not even a full fledged Hero yet, but you seem to believe you can take private information that shouldn't even be available to heroes, and come bother civilians who haven't committed any crimes, just because you want it for a _Hero_."

Gokudera leans forward.

"Tell me, if I'd stolen private medical information to bother your family, how long would it have been before you had me thrown in jail?"

Tenya flinches back, and Gokudera barks a laugh.

"You're might be a Hero-in-training, but you're no 'hero,'" Gokudera says. "You're an idol who wants a pat on the head for being a good person. Now get the fuck out of here!"

Almost as if scheduled, the door to the restaurant opens again, and Tenya takes the distraction to run past Gokudera, fleeing for the exit. He barely hears the gasp from the green haired woman who enters, carrying a cream-coloured cat in her arms, too desperate to get away from the restaurant and the taunting voice behind him. He doesn't stop until he makes it back home, and slams the door of his bedroom shut.

What just happened? Tenya has never had any issues defending heroes and the noble profession before.

Then again, he'd also never had to defend it against someone who acted as if heroes were a nuisance rather than a fact of life. He must have been too tired and stressed, to not even put together a proper argument.

But...he cannot defend against Gokudera's last barb. Even he'd known before he walked into the restaurant than he wasn't fully in the right. If Recovery Girl hadn't been willing to pursue this link, what made Tenya think that he would have better luck? Heroes aren't above the law, but he'd done just that to press the family at Takesushi.

He bites his lip, and heads to his desk. In a locked drawer, he's hidden every shred of evidence he has regarding Stain. He yanks it out, and starts scanning the information.

Come to think of it, a lot of Gokudera's opinions sound similar to Stains. He hadn't come right out and said that heroes were fake, but it's the same line of thinking. Perhaps that's where the boy got the ridiculous notion that heroes aren't the pillars of society. The longer Stain runs free, the more people his ideas can infect.

No. Maybe Gokudera is right. Heroes shouldn't be above the law, but Tenya's _not_ a hero. And if being a hero means letting his brother's mutilator go free, to let him stay alive after his actions, then he'll happily toss that future away.

He certainly won't be the one to prove that delinquent's beliefs to be right.

* * *

 _Please note, Gokudera's very negative opinions come from the fact that he's a former criminal, and someone used to controlling the world and fighting to protect the order from the shadows rather than in the spotlight. Heroes in general irritate him, but he's only aware of Stain through news repo_


End file.
